PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's basketball team defeated LIU, 83-61 behind a big day from Big Cliff.

Senior Clifford Omoruyi led RU with a career-high 25 points, 11 rebounds, and erased three shots in 30 minutes. Omoruyi capped off a great day with his fourth double-double in 2023-24.

Grad forward Aundre Hyatt added 12 points, ripped down a career-best 12 rebounds, and swatted two shots.

The duo of freshman Jamichael Davis and sophomore Derek Simpson added 12 and 10 points, respectively. Davis' 12 points were a career-high.

The Scarlet Knights raced out to an early 15-4 advantage fueled by a 9-0 spurt. RU held the Sharks to four points in the first 8:25 of the opening stanza.

Rutgers went on an 8-1 run to give the hosts their largest lead of the half, 32-17 with 4:35 to play.

Omoruyi had his best scoring half as a Scarlet Knight in the first half with 17 points.

LIU went on an 8-1 scoring run to cut the Scarlet Knights lead to 62-55 with 7:54 remaining in the second half.

Senior Mawot Mag, Omoruyi, and Hyatt spearheaded a 14-0 run to give RU its largest lead of the contest, a 78-57 lead with 3:47 to play.

The Scarlet Knights improved to 6-1 at Jersey Mike's Arena this season.
 
Postgame Notes
 
With the Victory: 

• Rutgers improves to 10-1 all-time against LIU with their seventh straight win in the series.
• Rutgers improves to 6-0 in home non-conference games this season, 14-1 in the last two years, 33-2 in the past five seasons at home, and have won 49 of their past 53 home non-conference games, improving to 57-6 under head coach Steve Pikiell in non-conference home games.
• Rutgers improves to 6-1 at home this season. The Scarlet Knights are 20-7 at home over the past two seasons, 30-11 at home over the past three seasons and 48-12 at home over the past four seasons.

Team Notes:

• Rutgers forced its opponent to turn the ball over at least 10 times for the fourth straight game and forced at least 17 turnovers for the fifth time this season. 
• It was the third game this season that Rutgers won by 20+ points. 

Individual Notes:

• Cliff Omoruyi had a new career-high in points (25).
• Omoruyi scored 17 points in the first half, tying for his most points ever in one half (he also had 17 in the first half vs. Bucknell last season). 
• He added 11 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the season. 
• Omoruyi had at least 3 blocks for the seventh straight game. 
• Aundre Hyatt (12 points, 12 rebounds) had his third career double-double, the second of his Rutgers career and his first since the 2022-23 season opener against Columbia. 
• It marked the first time 2 RU players had a double-double in the same game since Nov. 13, 2021 (Ron Harper Jr. and Cliff Omoruyi vs. Merrimack). 
• Hyatt's 12 rebounds were a new career-high. 
• Gavin Griffith set a new career-high in steals with three. He previously had four steals total in his first four collegiate games. 
• Jamichael Davis scored a career-high in points for the second straight game with 12 points. 

Rutgers Career Records:

• Cliff Omoruyi took sole possession of seventh place all-time at Rutgers in blocks (165), passing Dane Miller
• Omoruyi now has 1,035 points, moving past Andrew Kolbasovsky, Rick Dadika and Marquis Webb to take over 43rd place on RU's all-time list. 

Postgame Quotes
 
Head Coach Steve Pikiell
 
Opening Statement:

"Thanks for coming this Saturday. I appreciate the crowd today too, these are always tough games and I watched a lot of tape on them. They keep getting better every year. Obviously, we need to get better at free throw shooting here, but I liked that down the stretch we got 7 straight stops. We did a good job at sharing and taking care of the basketball. Clifford Omoruyi got a career-high and Aundre got a double-double. I think that when Mawot plays, Aundre Hyatt rebounds more and that is a big thing for us moving forward. Now we are onto Mississippi State, that will be another tough test right before Christmas. My players had a tough week this week with finals and papers due, but I'm glad they took care of business. I'm thankful for these guys and we're moving on to the next one."
 
On momentum down the stretch:

"They got into the huddle and they knew they were starting to creep back into this thing. I thought we had broken away earlier but the free throw line can impact a team. They all got very locked in and really moved the basketball too. They got a lot of assists and we passed the ball well. We need to be better free-throw shooters but we did enough today. We valued the production from the older guys today".
 
On Cliff Omoruyi's career-high:

"First of all, he scored his 1,000th point. I told him you have to start working on the next 1,000th, so we're 25 into it. He was locked in, he had good real estate during the game, and he moved well. There were a couple more to that he would probably like to have back. We got him the ball when he was available, and I thought we moved the ball side to side and when we did it is hard to guard him. So he did a great job and he's been practicing.
 
On Aundre Hyatt's double-double and rebounding:

"Yeah I mean you know again, Andre is very important and I thought his activity all night long was really good and got a huge offensive rebound to put the ball back at a crucial time too and we when we came out of that timeout. So when Andre is locked in like that and you hit a big three down the stretch, you know he can do those things and we need him to rebound. You see our rebounding numbers have gone up since Mawot Mag has been back and his rebounding numbers have gone up a great deal and we need that. Mississippi State is a good rebounding team so we have to continue on that path. 
 
On Mawot Mag's return:

"I mean he is just kind of getting back into the swing of things. I have to give him a ton of credit, during his rehab, he shot the ball a lot. And his jump shot is a lot improved and you see it. You see it in his mid-range, and you see it in his game. So credit to him. Even when his leg wasn't what it needed to be, he put the time in. And he's a late night guy in the gym, he'll get up too and do it in the morning but you kinda see the results of that."
 
On forcing turnovers:

When we can swarm you a little bit on the full court and you know J Mike and Noah and we added Mawot today and he changes our looks on the full court but it gives you great energy. I thought we really did a great job, just didn't finish the free throws. So we were getting turnovers and steals and then we're getting fouled in the first half especially since we just didn't do what we needed to do for the foul line to really separate the game so that's the next step in this but we have been forcing a lot teams into turnovers, more so than any team that I have had in the past. So these guys are handsy, they're quick, and J Mike keeps improving, and Derek when he's ready to roll, Noah is really good defensively with his hands, and Cliff blocking shots too helps you in the back line when teams attack you. 
 
On Jamichael Davis entering the starting lineup:

"Like anything he has a great energy about him.  He has a toughness to him.  I like those three guards.  We need all three of those guys. They all bring in different elements. He is so fast and now is playing to share the ball and can get to the rim.  He is shooting the ball at a high level in practice too.  We are pleased with his progress but he has a long way to go.  A punch too that comes off the bench with Wolf, Gavin, and Derek gives us a little bit of a different element."  
 
On team assists:

"When they do that, we're connected and we're hard to guard. We have a lot of different weapons if the ball is moving. I think J-Mike (Jamichael Davis) has had like 24 assists, three turnovers or four turnovers in the last four or five games so he's really done a good job at that guard position, but all of them are capable and willing passers. I think that's the most important thing. They're willing passers. Pass up one for a better one. You saw some of that action tonight."
 
On Jamichael Davis:

"He's got a great energy about him. I think the guys would say that. He's got a toughness too. I like those three guards. I like Derek Simpson. Noah Fernandes was in foul trouble today. So Derek got some more opportunities and we need all three of those guys. They all bring a little bit of a different element. He's so fast and now he's playing to share the ball and he can get to the rim too. you know and he's shooting the ball at a high level too in practice. I'm pleased with his progress. We have a long way to go with this team but I'm pleased. The punch too comes off the bench with Wolf and with Gavin. With Derek now it gives us a little bit of a different element in the game too."
 
LIU Coach Rod Strickland 
 
On Clifford Omoruyi's performance:

"He's physical and has great athleticism. I think someone like that can't give them any angles.  You have to try to get him to shoot the ball over time.  I think at times we did that but he played well.  He's athletic and strong." 

On Coach Pikiell

Coach Pikell recruited my son and I remember when he first got here he said 'Whoever is coming or not I am going to turn this thing around.'  I'll never forget how he said that so watching him do it is a great thing. You can tell when someone is sincere. Coach Marlon Williamson and coach Brandin Knight are my guys so there is a lot of mutual respect.