Rutgers University
Vermont
Rutgers Falls to Vermont in Legends Classic
Nov 22 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers sophomore guard Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.) shot eight-of-15 to score a game-high 22 points, but it was not enough, as Rutgers (2-1) dropped a 77-71 decision to Vermont (2-1) Sunday at the RAC in the Legends Classic. Juniors Jonathan Mitchell (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) and Mike Coburn (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) contributed 15 and 13 points, respectively, for the Scarlet Knights, who shot 50 percent (26-52) on the afternoon.
“I thought Mike (Rosario) was outstanding tonight in terms of his shot selection and making plays for other people,” said head coach Fred Hill. “I thought he had a great floor game.”
In a contest featured nine lead changes and eight ties, Rutgers trailed by four (68-64) with under three minutes to play, but charged back to tie the score at 70-70 on a Hamady Ndiaye (Dakar, Senegal) layup with 45 seconds remaining. The Catamount scored five consecutive points on free throws, however, to take a five point lead with 13 seconds to go and escaped with the victory.
“It wasn’t a pretty game, but I thought that we played hard,” said Vermont coach Mike Lonergan. “I thought we did a pretty good job on Mike Rosario for the first three quarters of the game, but he really hurt us late in the game.”
Rutgers had a pair of seven point advantages before the initial media timeout of the second half and led 55-49 with 11:12 remaining in the game. It appeared as though the home squad might put the feisty Catamounts away, but Vermont responded with an 11-0 run to take a 60-55 lead with 7:22 on the clock.
‘We were up six and had a couple of good opportunities to stretch it out and we didn’t take advantage of it,” said Hill. “When you don’t do that, you let a good team hang around and they are a very good team.”
Vermont established a 37-32 advantage in the rebounding column and benefitted from 20 Rutgers turnovers.
“We are not rebounding the ball very well right now,” said Hill. We gave up 16 offensive rebounds…We also had about a five-minute stretch where we lost our composure. If you look at the turnovers that we had from our wing guards and our guards, the new guys kind of got caught up in the emotion of the game and lost composure.”
Rutgers will look to bounce back when it next takes to the hardwood Friday evening (Nov. 27) versus Massachusetts at 5:30 p.m. in the championship round of the Legends Classic at Boardwalk Hall in Atlantic City. The game will be televised live on HDNet.
POST GAME NOTES
- For the third straight game, three Scarlet Knights scored in double digits with Mike Rosario (22), Jonathan Mitchell (15) Mike Coburn (13) posting 10-plus points versus the Catamounts.
- Rosario’s 22 points is a season-high and marks the 31st time in his 35 games at Rutgers that he has scored in double digits and the 11th time he has tallied 20-plus. The six-foot-three guard has led RU in scoring in 22 of his 35 career games as a Scarlet Knight. He has notched at least 12 points in seven straight non-conference games.
- Rutgers is now 25-7 all-time against America East teams.
- Senior Hamady Ndiaye’s four blocks marks the 36th game he has notched three-plus deflections. His defensive performance maintains his No. 4 spot on the NCAA’s career blocks lost among active players with 229. Ndiaye started the day leading the BIG EAST in blocks and blocks per game. Ndiaye’s eight points and four rebounds were season highs.
- Coburn’s 13 points is a season-high and marks his 14th career double-digit scoring performance. His five assists marks the fifth time in his career that he has dished out five-plus helpers as a Scarlet Knight.
- Dane Miller pulled down a career-high six rebounds.
- Gregory Echenique’s three blocks gives him 86 for his career and puts him in sole possession of 13th place on the school’s career blocks list. The six-foot-nine center now owns 16 career games with three-plus blocks.
- Rutgers honored Phil “The Thrill” Sellers, a two-time All-American and is the state university’s all-time leader in both scoring and rebounding, as its “Legend of the Game” in conjunction with the Legend’s Classic. Many of his former teammates were on hand. Seated courtside was Rutgers Hall of Famer, all time assists and steals leader, and current head coach of the Philadelphia 76ers Eddie Jordan. Seated behind the Rutgers bench was RU Hall of Famer Abdel Anderson, Joe Boylan, Mark Conlin, All-American and Hall of Famer Hollis Copeland, All-American and Hall of Famer Mike Dabney, Steve Hefele, John Kelly, Jeff Klienbaum, Stan Nance, Mike Palko and Bruce Scherer.
POST GAME QUOTES
Rutgers Head Coach Fred Hill
On what the difference was in the loss:
“It wasn’t so much anything down the stretch. It was more of the two things we’ve talked about. We are not rebounding the ball very well right now. We gave up 16 offensive rebounds. It shouldn’t be 70-70 if you rebound the basketball. We also had about a five-minute stretch where we lost our composure. If you look at the turnovers that we had from our wing guards and our guards, the new guys kind of got caught up in the emotion of the game and lost composure.”
‘We were up six and had a couple of good opportunities to stretch it out and we didn’t take advantage of it. When you don’t do that, you let a good team hang around and they are a very good team.”
On the performance of Vermont forward Evan Fjeld (19 points):
“He drove by our guys, he got offensive rebounds, and he got easy baskets. He was the difference in the game.”
On getting his team to take care of the ball better:
“It’s just a thing you work on every day in practice. We’re playing a lot faster, and when you play fast some of those things (turnovers) are going to occur. But again, you can’t turn the ball over 20 times, even when you are playing fast. If we get the ball inside, we have to make sure we don’t turn the ball over in the post. We also can’t have that many turnovers out of our guards. It’s something you work on every day in practice. We work on trying to make good decisions, and I think as we start to develop a more cohesive offensive unit, you start to make those decisions and you don’t have these nights.”
On the performance of sophomore guard Mike Rosario:
“I thought Mike was outstanding tonight in terms of his shot selection and making plays for other people. I thought he had a great floor game.”
Vermont Head Coach Mike Lonergan:
“We’re very happy to come out of here with a win. It wasn’t a pretty game, but I thought that we played hard. I thought we did a pretty good job on Mike Rosario for the first three quarters of the game, but he really hurt us late in the game.”
“I’m just happy for our guys, we challenged them with a tough schedule. We have ten tough games on the road. This was not easy; we did have a week to prepare for this game. We felt pretty good coming in. Free throws are huge and it’s good to see that Marqus Blakey was 5 for 6 from the line. Free throws have always been a weakness in Marque’s career, but he made a big one against Buffalo and he made a few big ones down the stretch for us tonight.”
“I’m happy for Marque because he’s from New Jersey, and I’m just happy for our team to get a win against a BIG EAST team.”
