PISCATAWAY, N.J. – A team motto for Steve Pikiell in 2022-23 is "Share the Game".

The Scarlet Knights men's basketball team did in fact "Share the Game" on Friday night at Jersey Mike's Arena against Coppin State. RU scored a season-high 90 points and had 30 team assists: the most in the Pikiell-era and the most by a Rutgers team since 1992.

RU defeated Coppin State 90-57 in a game where four players scored in double-digits.

"Another great crowd tonight," Pikiell said. "My team – they were ready to play.  A dangerous team. Sessoms is the fourth-leading scorer in the country, and he has given us problems his whole career.  I think we held him to a season low. Awesome job by everybody involved.  What I'm most proud of was offensive rebounds and our assist total.  Seven assists and eight assists right here by these guys (Caleb McConnell and Cam Spencer), they shared the ball. Our defense has been good and continues to be good.  It was a good win; we have a lot ahead of us now heading into league play. It's never easy in this conference, but these guys are playing good basketball and I'm real pleased."

Junior guard Cam Spencer scored his 1000^th career point early in the first half with his first three-pointer and scored 17 points, while knocking down five three-point shots. Spencer played a team-high 31 minutes and had seven assists and four rebounds. Pikiell loved the way his team passed the rock and noted the 17 team assists in the first half, which was the most in a period for RU all year.
 
"It's huge number," Pikiell said. "I can't say, I don't think I've ever had (that many). And they had 17 in the first half. They were really sharing the ball. He (Cam Spencer) got his 1000th point tonight, too. I want to congratulate Cam. That's an awesome accomplishment. But yeah, 30 assists. Everyone contributed in the assist department. It was a good way to play, it's a fun way to play."
 
Senior Caleb McConnell had eight assists, nine points and 11 rebounds. The fifth-year player was close to becoming the first Scarlet Knight to record a triple-double in over 40 years since former NBA star Roy Hinson did. McConnell shut down the nation's fourth-leading scorer in Sam Sessoms, holding him to 12 points, which was his season-low. McConnell snagged five steals on the night.
 
Junior center Clifford Omoruyi was nearly unstoppable around the rim again and had a game-high 20 points. Omoruyi had his second straight double-double with 13 boards. Senior Paul Mulcahy had his typical all-around game with 13 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals.
 
Freshman forward Antwone Woolfolk had a career-high 10 points and snagged five rebounds. Aundre Hyatt had a pair of jaw-dropping alley-oop finishes and since six points. Freshman Derek Simpson added sic points and junior starter Mawot Mag added seven.
 
The Scarlet Knights take a (9-4) record back into Big Ten play against the No. 1 team in the country Purdue at Mackey Arena on Monday night at 7 p.m.


 
Postgame Quotes  

Head Coach Steve Pikell 

On team's large margin of victory against low-major teams this season 
We just play and get ready for the games. These guys know, I don't spend any time on that. We play, we get ready to play. These are all good teams. That team scored 107 points. I don't worry about that. It's good for you guys to talk about. It has nothing to do with anything according to me. We just play and we play hard. We're just trying to get these guys ready for what's ahead
 
On playing eight-man rotations this season
"We've got a good bench. I trust my guys on the bench. I'm very excited about the roster as a whole. We get in a good groove with guys, I liked how we're sharing the ball. Eight-man, nine-man (rotations), Dean will be ready to go. Those guys are good. Jalen's ready to go. We've been fortunate, we've been healthy, guys came back, we didn't have foul trouble tonight. Those will be ready to go whenever we need them."
 
On where his team is at this point in the season 
"I like that we're healthy. I like that we are getting better. We have challenges ahead. I like this team a lot. I'm thankful for the crowd, too, today. They made a big difference. They were into it from the jump. We'll go to Purdue, a tough place to play. An undefeated team, there's only a couple left in the country. (They're) well-coached and a real tough place to play, but we're no strangers to tough schedules and tough starts to the season. We've got to go there and play great basketball."

On the job that Matt Painter has done for Purdue and the challenge of going against Zach Edey
"He was there last year so it's not a new challenge. They also had Trevion Williams last year who was an All-American, so they always have great big guys.  Matt Painter is one of the best coaches in the country. They have always been good since I've been in the league. It has always been a difficult team, well coached, talented guys and hard place to play so it's no different this year. They always find themselves 7'5" guys.
 
On team success shutting down big man
"There's so many in the Big 10. You better be efficient in defending bigs in this league. They come in all shapes and sizes and are all talented. They're all different challenges that they pose. He certainly does the job of developing. Poses huge problems. But Kofi Cockburn, Trevion Williams, I mean they're problems – they're problems. They're good players and you can never stop those guys, just have got to contain them and do a great job."
 
On what it means to play against No. 1 Purdue and possibly beat them
"It is just another Big 10 game. They are a good team and then the next team we play is good. I don't know how many teams are ranked in the Big 10, maybe six or five.  It is a great league and the challenges come. We will play a lot of ranked teams throughout the years and it's the joy of playing in the Big 10."
 
On playing in Mackey Arena
"I think everyone in the league pretty much says it's the toughest place to play. They're all tough in their own ways. A great fan base and have been very successful. It's loud. They are the number one team in the country. We've been there before when they're top-five, top-10 every year. So it's a tough, challenging environment."
 
The importance of rest before the next stretch of games
"We're all healthy, so you know that's really helped and guys were banged up. So now you've got a stretch here where you've really got to take care of the bodies. Challenges are physical, they're mental, the film, there are a lot of challenges that come up, but this group has fought through a lot of challenges."
 
On facing Purdue and the importance of the veteran player
"I think it's huge. I mean, these guys share their stories already with Derrick Simpson and (Antwone Woolfolk) and those guys. You have veteran guys and they kind of know what it brings and they know the opposing team is going to be counting down the shot clock seven seconds before. We've been there, we've done that and these guys shared those stories. But they also know how challenging these places are. So you've got to come with your "A" game and be prepared. Veterans. I mean, I think anyone will tell you, there's more veterans now in college basketball than ever, COVID, sixth years. Every team has gotten older, Purdue has got guys that have been around."

Game Notes 

-17 assists in the first half were the most for a half this season.

-RU had a 9-0 run in 1:42 after the first media timeout

-A victory over Coppin State represented:

A 9-1 home record this season –
A 23-4 home record over the past two seasons –
A 51-9 record at home over the past four seasons –
A 2-0 record in the all-time series against Coppin State.

-RU has held all 13 of its opponents to date to point production that is lower than their scoring average entering the game.

-RU has held eight of those opponents to a total that is 20+ points below their average and 10 to 10+ points below their average.

-Rutgers has held 10 of its 13 opponents to a new season-low in points scored (all but Temple and Miami), and in nine of ten home games they have held the opponent to a season-low