PISCATAWAY, N.J. - No. 23/24 Rutgers men's basketball topped Fairleigh Dickinson, 96-75, behind a career-high 30 points from
Ron Harper Jr. to improve to 2-0 on the season.
Harper scored 15 of his 30 points from 3-point range, shooting 5-of-9 from long range, as one of three Scarlet Knights in double figures.
Jacob Young added in 24 points in his best performance in a Scarlet Knights uniform to go along with seven assists and four steals while
Montez Mathis added in 15.
Paul Mulcahy grabbed eight rebounds, one shy of tying his career mark.
The Scarlet Knights shot 56.9 percent (37-of-65) from the floor with Harper and Young each knocking down 11 shots apiece. RU collected 56 points in the paint and had a 30-3 advantage in fast break points against the preseason NEC favorites.
Young and Harper Jr. combined to carry the RU offense in the opening half. Young had 17 points and six assists, while Harper Jr. equaled him with 17 points on 4-of-7 shooting from long range. RU used a 28-7 run to end the half to lead 47-33 at the break. FDU was held to 1-of-10 shooting over the last 6:15 of the half.
FDU narrowed the gap to nine, 62-53, with 13:42 to go, however Rutgers followed with a 16-2 run over the next six minutes. The Scarlet Knights would go on to lead by as many as 26 with 4:20 remaining.
Next up for the Scarlet Knights is another home contest on Sunday. RU will host Hofstra at 7 p.m. The game will air on Big Ten Network.
- Rutgers' 96 points was their highest point total in a game under head coach Steve Pikiell.
- It was the largest output for the Scarlet Knights since scoring 103 points on Feb. 3, 2016, a triple overtime contest against Illinois.
- The 96 points marked the most points in a regulation game since scoring 116 against Stillman on Nov. 25, 2013.
- It marked the most points in a regulation game against a Division I opponent since a 97-87 win over Villanova on January 9, 1999.
- Ron Harper Jr. netted a career-high 30 point surpassing his previous high of 29 at No. 19 Iowa (1-22-20).
- It marked the first 30-point performance by a Scarlet Knight since Corey Sanders scored 30 against Northwestern on Feb. 13, 2018.
- Harper Jr. made five three-pointers, tying his career high.
- Jacob Young's 24 points were the most as a Scarlet Knights. His previous high was 23 points against Caldwell (12/30/19)
- Young tied his career-highs in field goals (11) and steals (4).
- Rutgers has scored at least 85 points in first two opening games of 2020-21, the first time doing so since 2018 in opening the season with FDU and Drexel.
- Paul Mulcahy made his first career start, joining Montez Mathis, Jacob Young, Ron Harper Jr. and Clifford Omoruyi as the starters.
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Opening Statement: "A quick turnaround game and I wanna thank Greg Herenda and FDU for going through all the protocol that we make our visiting teams go through. I really appreciate how they cooperated, and I love him as a coach, and he is one of the best coaches around. He has done a great job with that program; they have the player of the year in the league. I knew coming in this would be real tough. (Jahlil) Jenkins can play and I though Jacob Young did a really good job, Montez guarded him, he's a real crafty guard. I think he's got thirteen hundred points already, so I thought all of things we need to work on, but some good things. The second half especially where we rebounded the ball well and got the ball up the floor and played better defense in stretches. So gotta get better, keep figuring out our lineup to add substitutions. That is what we kind of have to do without having any scrimmage games or any of that to kind of work through, but happy with the guys. Good win. Quick turnaround now for a really good Hofstra team."
On backcourt without Geo: "Well, that's tough you know, you don't want to plan that. I think they've gotten some really good minutes. I think Jacob (Young), we ask him to do a lot, but he plays with great energy. Paul (Mulchay) gives us a ton, Montez and now we've gotten a few minutes from Mawot (Mag) who plays hard and is figuring it out. I think whenever you have an obstacle like Geo (Baker) being out, you don't want to go through it, but it gives other guys opportunities to step up and play more minutes and hopefully take advantage of it. I think our guards do a good job and it's going to be a harder test obviously the next game. The guards for Hofstra are real good, they are picked to win that league and they won it last year. So, they are going to keep getting harder and harder here and they've got to keep staying the course and keep getting better."
On Jacob and Ron: "They gave us great energy, you know Ron has become a tough matchup and Jacob too when he's playing defense and playing with that great energy, he's really tough to guard. He's as fast as there is, but I really like what he's doing on the defensive end. I'm real pleased, he's put a lot of time in and you obviously see his improvements and he's guarding guys to and he's guarding them 94 feet. Ron obviously we need that from Ron every night. I wish we can get that every night, but tonight he was special. He made threes, he could post up, he could do a lot of things. He's a tough guy to guard and we need that especially without Geo being in uniform."
On Montez Mathis: :I loved it in the second half, I challenged them at halftime and I really thought he played tremendous defense in the second half, really made it hard on Jenkins and (Brandon) Rush is a good guard too, but I thought Montez did a really good job of kinda of settling down on that end of the floor and giving us really good minutes. He's a good defender, he's a veteran guy, I trust Montez, and he had a really good offseason too. He's in great shape conditioning wise during this pandemic and did a good job with his body and we need him to continue to keep growing, he's a better shooter this year, he's a better ball handler, so excited about him and need him to be really good."
On the season: "It's been a bizarre preseason, no rhythm to it, no referees, we fouled way too much. I've been saying that in practice, tonight we fouled way too much."
On Mawot Mag: "Mawot keeps growing, he's like one of those guys, keeps plugging away, early in the gym and he's going to be a really good defender for us too. I think you saw the improvement from the first game to the second game too. I think he was a little nervous in the first game and he'll get more and more confident here with playing time, he can really shoot the ball too. I'm real pleased and on the defensive end of the floor, he can guard multiple positions and he kind of takes that as a challenge. Real pleased with all of our freshmen. I think Dean Reiber too with some good minutes and the other night and again tonight and Oskar too will get his chance."
On Geo's ankle: "He's in a boot now. He was on the crutches the other day, so now it's a boot. Not a whole lot to report, he's not going to play anytime soon. Just got to keep him in Rich's (Campbell) room, the training room, get as much treatment as he can, but the boot will be on for a little here."
On ball control: "We were a little sloppy today obviously. Did a much better job the other day of sharing the game, the ball never stopped the other night, got moved around pretty good. Today in the first half we really kind of didn't do a great job in that area, obviously ten turnovers way too many. This is a seven, eight turnover game so we got to do a better job of handling the ball, making great decisions and we'll continue to improve. I love the second half, I thought the defense was better, I thought we rebounded better and I though we took care of the ball better. So, improvement in the second half and that's a good sign and we need it to happen to beat a good Hofstra team coming up."
On Sacred Heart's positive Covid test: "We have the best doctors and medical protocol in the country. I know they tested a bunch of times before we played them, and everyone was negative. Everybody was great when they came here, and they tested for consecutive days."
FDU Head Coach Greg Herenda
Opening Statement: "Just like at Quinnipiac, the first 14-15 minutes of the game, we really controlled tempo, we ran our offense, we guarded. But we just couldn't complete the half. Ron Harper Jr was the difference in the game. I'm really happy with our team. Each time we go out and perform, we're getting more from more players. Rutgers is a very good team. They're a top-25 team. And even without Geo (Baker), they got even quicker and more athletic. You lose by 19 or whatever we lost by, I'm very very excited about our team. It's not gonna happen overnight. We're playing three freshman a lot of minutes. Elijah got in foul trouble, But Jahlil played a really solid floor game, I really like how Callum Baker came along. It's a work in progress. That's what our team is now. I keep on saying it. I love my team. I love their spirit. We just don't have enough right now, enough reps in to play the entire 40 minutes. Especially in a big ten arena against a really well-coached, athletic basketball team.
On experience gained by young players: "Everyone's gotta step up. Other than Elyjah (Williams) getting in foul trouble and he never got going — everybody stepped up in certain moments. We just need to put together 40 minutes. It's not easy with the number of reps — we're getting guys back day-by-day. Today we had nine healthy bodies for the first time in a long time. Oscar (Okeke) wasn't ready to go today but he'll be back. We've got good players. Quinnipiac was really good in a different way and Rutgers is very good in a big way. Now we get a day off. We just got done with exams. Monday we go to Hofstra. Coach (Joe) Mihalich is not gonna be there, a dear friend of mine. Mike Farrelly is gonna be the head coach there. They play Rutgers (Sunday) so they go back-to-back and we got Hofstra on Monday night. And God bless the tests being negative so that we can continue to play college basketball games.
On Ron Harper Jr.:
"We were the first university to offer Ron. I know his dad well, he played for the Chicago Bulls. Not many people were on him early. Steve (Pikiell) is a really bright, really smart, good coach. And they got on him hard and they got him. He's a heck of a player. It was just a tough matchup when Elyjah went out. You play small and he shoots over you. You play big and he goes by you. And he's a veteran now. He's been through wars and he's got it in the genes. But I'm not here to talk about Ron Harper. I'm here to talk about our players. Our players are getting better and our players are doing everything and anything they can for the university, to go out and travel and play and test and practice. We had Thanksgiving basically in the Rothman Center by ourselves. I can't thank our players enough. We're gonna be good. This is all getting us ready for March. Winning in March is never easy but he have that ability. Bryant almost got Syracuse. St Francis got Pitt. And we're playing Rutgers. Our teams in the NEC Conference continue to acquit ourselves really well against high major programs."
Gallery: (11-27-2020) Men's Basketball vs. FDU
