Thursday, April 2
Las Vegas, Nev.
10:30 PM
Rutgers University
vs
Creighton University
Men’s Basketball Faces Creighton in College Basketball Crown
Mar 25 | Men's Basketball
RU will Play in Postseason Tournament Against the Blue Jays on Thursday, April 2
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's basketball season will continue with postseason play, as RU heads off to Las Vegas to compete at the College Basketball Crown. RU opening play against Creighton in the Quarterfinals on Thursday, Apri 2. Tipoff is at 10:30 pm Eastern Time
In the second year of the event, the postseason tournament will consist of eight teams. Last season, Big Ten team Nebraska won the inaugural event, defeating UCF in the title game and parlaying the success into a NCAA Tournament as a 4-seed and the program's first ever Sweet 16 appearance. UCF and Villanova also made this year's NCAA Tournament after playing in the Crown last season.
The event provides national television exposure for the program, with the game to air on FS1. Tim Brando will provide play-by-play, joined by analyst Jim Jackson and reporter Allison Williams. WFAN will provide radio coverage of the game as well.
The Scarlet Knights hold a 14-19 overall record. The Scarlet Knights earned seven wins over Big Ten Conference foes and had two victories in non-conference play over NCAA Tournament teams (Lehigh and Penn). RU extends its season after a 1-1 showing in the Big Ten Conference Tournament and enters The Crown with wins in five of the past eight games, downing Maryland and Penn State twice, as well as Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament. The victory over the Gophers came behind 29 points from Tariq Francis, who made five three pointers, and 22 assists for the team.
Rutgers will play in Las Vegas for the second time this season. The Scarlet Knights previously traveled to 'Sin City' for the Players Era Tournament, facing Tennessee, Notre Dame, and UNLV. It was the team's second straight season in the Players Era, also competing last year against Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Alabama.
Rutgers stands top-50 nationally in bench points (46th, 28.27) and turnovers per game (49th, 10.2). Individually, Tariq Francis is 10th best with a 90.5% shooting from the free throw line.
Lino Mark enters the event off of 17 points against UCLA. He has scored in double-figures in seven of his last 10 games. Emmanuel Ogbole, who RU honored on Senior Day, has had three of his top five scoring games of the year in the past four games. Darren Buchanan has averaged 10.5 points over the past six games and has two games of nine or more rebounds in that span.
This will be RU's first trip to The Crown and the third different postseason tournament that RU has competed in under head coach Steve Pikiell. RU last played a postseason tournament in 2023, falling to Hofstra in the NIT, and made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022. RU went 1-3 in those three postseason tournaments combined.
Creighton enters The Crown under head coach Greg McDermott, who has announced that he will retire following the event. He has won 365 games across 16 seasons on their sidelines and has 25 seasons as a Division I head coach with over 500 career wins and 13 NCAA Tournaments, including an Elite Eight bid in 2023. Coach-in-waiting Alan Huss, an associate head coach for the program this year after taking High Point to the NCAA Tournament last season, will assume the helm of the program following The Crown.
Creighton enters the game 15-17 overall, having gone 9-11 in BIG EAST play during the regular season and being eliminated from the league tournament by Seton Hall. The Blue Jays are 3-9 in their past 12 after a 12-8 start, which included a non-conference win over Big Ten foe Oregon.
The Blue Jays feature a pair of former Iowa players in Iowa transfers Josh Dix and Owen Freeman. Dix leads the team at 13.0 points per game, shooting 43.6% from the field and 86.0% from the line. He scored 26 points at Jersey Mike's Arena last season against RU, shooting 11-of-17 in the game. Freeman, who has not played since Feb. 21, had 15 points against RU in 2023-24.
Nick Graves leads the team with 4.3 assists and a top-50 assist/turnover ratio at 2.71. He averages 10.5 points per game. Graves spent the previous three years at Charlotte. Austin Swartz is at 10.9 points per game after playing for Miami last season.
RU previously played in Las Vegas in a tournament Format under head coach Eddie Jordan in 2016 for the Thanksgiving event titled the "Men Who Speak Up Main Event". In that event, RU drew Creighton as well, the lone matchup ever in program history against the Blue Jays.
Playing at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, RU was led by Corey Sanders with 21 points and Bishop Daniels added 17, but Creight took an 85-75 victory. Cole Huff had 26 points for Creighton on 10-of-19 shooting, while Maurice Watson had 13 points and 10 assists.
Tariq Francis will have the opportunity to add to his season as one of the top free throw shooters in program history. Francis has made 154 free throws this season, needing seven more to tie Bob Lloyd's 1965-66 campaign for fourth most makes in a season in RU history. Francis shoots 90.5% from the line on the year, seeking to become just the fourth RU player to finish a season over 90% from the charity stripe.
Francis has scored 559 points on the season, which is 18th most all-time in RU history. He needs five more to tie Dylan Harper's output from last season and if he passes Harper, will notch the most points for a Scarlet Knight in a season since Quincy Douby's program record 839 in 2005-06. Francis can tie for 17th with 24 points and 15th with 29 points. He needs 41 points in the Crown to become the 15th player in program history to reach 600 points. Francis is also four shy of 100 assists on the season.
Emmanuel Ogbole is shooting 59.3 percent from the field, having reached RU's minimum of 100 attempts on the season to qualify for the single-season list (64-of-108). Ogbole's 59.3 percent shooting would place him currently ninth on RU's single-season field goal percentage list.
With a win, RU will advance to the Semifinals, which will be held on Saturday, April 4. That game tips off at 4 pm Eastern Time on FOX. The Championship is held on Sunday, April 5, a 5:30 pm Eastern Time tipoff on FOX. Rutgers' semifinal opponent would be the winner of the Stanford – West Virginia game. West Virginia is a former BIG EAST rival of RU's. It would be the first meeting between the two schools since 2012, with the Mountaineers holding a 46-26 all-time advantage, with RU's last win in the series coming in 2004. Rutgers has played Stanford just twice, winning a game against them in 1982 and falling in 1939. Potential finals opponents for RU include Minnesota, Baylor, Colorado and Oklahoma.
| About the Crown |
In the second year of the event, the postseason tournament will consist of eight teams. Last season, Big Ten team Nebraska won the inaugural event, defeating UCF in the title game and parlaying the success into a NCAA Tournament as a 4-seed and the program's first ever Sweet 16 appearance. UCF and Villanova also made this year's NCAA Tournament after playing in the Crown last season.
The event provides national television exposure for the program, with the game to air on FS1. Tim Brando will provide play-by-play, joined by analyst Jim Jackson and reporter Allison Williams. WFAN will provide radio coverage of the game as well.
| About Rutgers |
The Scarlet Knights hold a 14-19 overall record. The Scarlet Knights earned seven wins over Big Ten Conference foes and had two victories in non-conference play over NCAA Tournament teams (Lehigh and Penn). RU extends its season after a 1-1 showing in the Big Ten Conference Tournament and enters The Crown with wins in five of the past eight games, downing Maryland and Penn State twice, as well as Minnesota in the Big Ten Tournament. The victory over the Gophers came behind 29 points from Tariq Francis, who made five three pointers, and 22 assists for the team.
Rutgers will play in Las Vegas for the second time this season. The Scarlet Knights previously traveled to 'Sin City' for the Players Era Tournament, facing Tennessee, Notre Dame, and UNLV. It was the team's second straight season in the Players Era, also competing last year against Notre Dame, Texas A&M and Alabama.
Rutgers stands top-50 nationally in bench points (46th, 28.27) and turnovers per game (49th, 10.2). Individually, Tariq Francis is 10th best with a 90.5% shooting from the free throw line.
Lino Mark enters the event off of 17 points against UCLA. He has scored in double-figures in seven of his last 10 games. Emmanuel Ogbole, who RU honored on Senior Day, has had three of his top five scoring games of the year in the past four games. Darren Buchanan has averaged 10.5 points over the past six games and has two games of nine or more rebounds in that span.
| Postseason History |
This will be RU's first trip to The Crown and the third different postseason tournament that RU has competed in under head coach Steve Pikiell. RU last played a postseason tournament in 2023, falling to Hofstra in the NIT, and made back-to-back NCAA Tournament appearances in 2021 and 2022. RU went 1-3 in those three postseason tournaments combined.
| About Creighton |
Creighton enters The Crown under head coach Greg McDermott, who has announced that he will retire following the event. He has won 365 games across 16 seasons on their sidelines and has 25 seasons as a Division I head coach with over 500 career wins and 13 NCAA Tournaments, including an Elite Eight bid in 2023. Coach-in-waiting Alan Huss, an associate head coach for the program this year after taking High Point to the NCAA Tournament last season, will assume the helm of the program following The Crown.
Creighton enters the game 15-17 overall, having gone 9-11 in BIG EAST play during the regular season and being eliminated from the league tournament by Seton Hall. The Blue Jays are 3-9 in their past 12 after a 12-8 start, which included a non-conference win over Big Ten foe Oregon.
The Blue Jays feature a pair of former Iowa players in Iowa transfers Josh Dix and Owen Freeman. Dix leads the team at 13.0 points per game, shooting 43.6% from the field and 86.0% from the line. He scored 26 points at Jersey Mike's Arena last season against RU, shooting 11-of-17 in the game. Freeman, who has not played since Feb. 21, had 15 points against RU in 2023-24.
Nick Graves leads the team with 4.3 assists and a top-50 assist/turnover ratio at 2.71. He averages 10.5 points per game. Graves spent the previous three years at Charlotte. Austin Swartz is at 10.9 points per game after playing for Miami last season.
| About the Series |
RU previously played in Las Vegas in a tournament Format under head coach Eddie Jordan in 2016 for the Thanksgiving event titled the "Men Who Speak Up Main Event". In that event, RU drew Creighton as well, the lone matchup ever in program history against the Blue Jays.
Playing at the MGM Grand Garden Arena, RU was led by Corey Sanders with 21 points and Bishop Daniels added 17, but Creight took an 85-75 victory. Cole Huff had 26 points for Creighton on 10-of-19 shooting, while Maurice Watson had 13 points and 10 assists.
| Milestone Watch |
Tariq Francis will have the opportunity to add to his season as one of the top free throw shooters in program history. Francis has made 154 free throws this season, needing seven more to tie Bob Lloyd's 1965-66 campaign for fourth most makes in a season in RU history. Francis shoots 90.5% from the line on the year, seeking to become just the fourth RU player to finish a season over 90% from the charity stripe.
Francis has scored 559 points on the season, which is 18th most all-time in RU history. He needs five more to tie Dylan Harper's output from last season and if he passes Harper, will notch the most points for a Scarlet Knight in a season since Quincy Douby's program record 839 in 2005-06. Francis can tie for 17th with 24 points and 15th with 29 points. He needs 41 points in the Crown to become the 15th player in program history to reach 600 points. Francis is also four shy of 100 assists on the season.
Emmanuel Ogbole is shooting 59.3 percent from the field, having reached RU's minimum of 100 attempts on the season to qualify for the single-season list (64-of-108). Ogbole's 59.3 percent shooting would place him currently ninth on RU's single-season field goal percentage list.
| Bracket Analysis |
With a win, RU will advance to the Semifinals, which will be held on Saturday, April 4. That game tips off at 4 pm Eastern Time on FOX. The Championship is held on Sunday, April 5, a 5:30 pm Eastern Time tipoff on FOX. Rutgers' semifinal opponent would be the winner of the Stanford – West Virginia game. West Virginia is a former BIG EAST rival of RU's. It would be the first meeting between the two schools since 2012, with the Mountaineers holding a 46-26 all-time advantage, with RU's last win in the series coming in 2004. Rutgers has played Stanford just twice, winning a game against them in 1982 and falling in 1939. Potential finals opponents for RU include Minnesota, Baylor, Colorado and Oklahoma.
Players Mentioned
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