Rutgers University
Cincinnati
Rutgers Falls to Cincinnati in OT, 72-68
Feb 09 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Center Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal) recorded his first double-double in Scarlet, scoring a career-high 14 points and grabbing 10 rebounds in a hard-fought, 72-68, overtime loss to Cincinnati Saturday evening at the RAC. A top candidate for the BIG EAST's Most Improved Player Award, the sophomore was a perfect five-for-five from the field while blocking a career-best tying seven shots in 34 minutes.
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Super Bowl champion and former Rutgers standout Shaun O'Hara was honored at halftime. (Tom Ciszek/NJSportsPhoto) |
Free throws were a determining factor. Both teams struggled from the charity stripe, as Rutgers (10-15, 2-10) made 56.5 percent (13-23) of its attempts, while Cincinnati (11-12, 6-5) shot 60 percent (12-20). The Scarlet Knights made seven of 14 from the line in the second half.
"We shoot free throws [well] and we're talking about a win, and that's as simple as it gets from me right now," said Rutgers head coach Fred Hill. "You have to make your free throws. We missed the front-end of one-and-ones and we didn't make them at critical times, so it changed the complexion of the game. We simply didn't shoot well from the free throw line tonight."
Ndiaye scored nine crucial points in the second half, helping RU send the game into overtime. He ripped down six boards and recorded three blocks in the final 20 minutes of regulation.
Guard Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J.) and Farmer also registered double figures. Chandler finished with a team-high 16 points, while collecting seven rebounds, and three steals. The freshman scored 11 of those points in the second half and overtime. Farmer finished with 12 points, to go along with three assists in 44 minutes.
A back-and-forth affair, the game featured 12 lead changes and 11 ties. Rutgers shot 39.3 percent (24-61), including seven of 26 (26.9 percent) from behind the arc. The Bearcats made 41.8 percent (28-67) of their field goals and four of 11 (36.4 percent) from long range.
The Scarlet Knights return to the hardwood Thursday evening at Morgantown, W.Va. for a 7:00 p.m. tip-off against the Mountaineers. The game will be televised live nationally on ESPN2.
POSTGAME NOTES
The game featured 11 ties and 12 lead changes.
Sophomore Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal) tallied a career-high 14 points, connecting on a career-high five field goals. Ndiaye also grabbed 10 rebounds for his first career double-double.
Ndiaye tied his career-high with seven blocked shots, previously set against Cincinnati last season, in a 73-69 RU win on Feb. 10, 2007, at the RAC. Ndiaye has blocked 80 shots this season, setting a new sixth-best single season RU record for blocked shots in a season.
Ndiaye tied his career-high with 34 minutes played. He previously accomplished the feat against St. John's on Feb. 6. He has played 30 or more minutes in four consecutive games, a career-high. In those four games, he is averaging 8.0 points, 9.8 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game.
Senior center Byron Joynes (Baltimore, Md.) grabbed six rebounds, giving him 517 for his career, passing Doug Brittelle (513) and Sean Axani (516) for 31st place on Rutgers' all-time career rebounds list.
Joynes drew two charges against the Bearcats, giving him 19 on the season. He leads the team in charges drawn.
Junior JR Inman (Pomona, N.Y.) grabbed four rebounds, giving him 509 for his career, tying him with Herve Lamizana for 34th place on Rutgers' all-time career rebounds list.
Inman scored six points, giving him 325 on the season, setting a new career-high for points in a season. His previous high was 324, set last year.
Freshman Corey Chandler (Newark, N.J.) has recorded at least one steal in six straight games, and 19 of the 22 games he has played this season. He has 40 steals on the season, leading the team in that category.
Junior Anthony Farmer (Millville, N.J.) played a season-high 44 minutes. His career-high is 49, set in Rutgers' 74-70 double-overtime win over Seton Hall on Jan. 27, 2007.
POSTGAME QUOTES
HEAD COACH FRED HILL:
On the play of Deonta Vaughn in overtime:
In overtime, we lost him on the very first possession and he got lose in transition. And I think that's the one thing that we did an outstanding job of over the course of the game. If you let him get going in transition, he's a great scorer, and he's very capable of knocking down that three. And that was the only one he made all game. I thought he made a couple of tough shots and got into the middle of the lane. He's a god player, but I thought we did a great job on him.'
On the play of Ndiaye:
'He's come a long way. He's 5-for-5 tonight from the field, 4-of-7 from the free throw line'? he's got 10 rebounds, 14 points for us and seven blocks. That's a hell of a game, he did a hell of a job.'
On the offense:
'We didn't shoot the ball real good from the perimeter. People are going to play a zone and people are going to pack it in and dare us to shoot. People aren't going to give us driving lanes and that's what we're good at. We're going to continue to go inside and out, which I feel we did a good job of tonight, You have to be able to knock down some shots, and we made some big ones when we had to.'
On a good effort:
'I thought we bounced back great from the St. John's game. We had a great practice, and we bounced back great from what I feel was a very bad basketball game on both teams parts.'
On the team staying positive:
'Well, you always worry about that. But we came off a great practice, and that's what you judge a lot on because this is a tough stretch for the young guys. You have to come back and you have to go to work and we've preached that from day one. There's a fine line between the team winning these last three games, and that's part of a process and that's what happens.'
Cincinnati Head Coach Mick Cronin
Opening Statement:
"It was a tough game for us obviously on the road. We were unable to score and we struggled for the entire first 40 minutes (offensively), but our defense held us in there. Neither team shot it very well, especially from the free-throw line in the first 40 minutes. In fact, we were 3-10 from the foul line in the first 40. Rutgers was 10-19, so it wasn't very pretty. I thought both teams fought extremely hard though."
On What The Win Means In The BIG EAST Standings:
"Big win for us, gets us to six wins in the conference. It puts us right in the middle of the mix with a lot of other teams with our next two games at home. It was huge to get a win and it puts us at 3-3 on the road in this league, which is very tough to beat."
On Rutgers:
"One thing I'd like to say about Rutgers, despite their youth, they continue to battle and give themselves a chance. And that's a credit to their kids and their coaches.
On Getting Contributions From Everyone:
"We're a young team and we build on situations so for us to be sitting her at 6-5 (in the BIG EAST) with two home games approaching us, we're happy where we're at. We got over a hump today. We did not play particularly well, especially with Deonta (Vaughn) struggling. We rely on him quite a bit, so it was a very big win. We had some guys step up today that hadn't stepped up the way we want. John Williamson had a big, big game with 22 points for us and Marvin Gentry hit two big three's. If you're going to compete in this league, you're going to have to have different players step up and knock down shots. It's all about personnel and kids stepping up and making plays. My guys really stepped up today."
