Rutgers University
Georgetown
Rutgers Falls to No. 19/22 Georgetown 74-65
Jan 15 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Freshman forward Gilvydas Biruta (Jonava, Lithuania) had a strong game, shooting six-of-nine to score 14 points with six rebounds, but it was not enough as Rutgers (10-7, 1-4) dropped a 74-65 decision to No. 22/19 Georgetown (13-5, 2-4) Saturday afternoon at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. The Hoyas shot 50 percent (11-22) from behind the arc, including 66.7 percent (8-12) in the second half, to earn the victory.
Senior forward Jonathan Mitchell (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) and senior guard James Beatty (Wilmington, N.C.) joined Biruta in double figures, contributing 13 and 12 points respectively. Sophomore guard Dane Miller (Rochester, N.Y.) and senior guard Mike Coburn (Mount Vernon, N.Y.) both added nine points for the home squad.
The Scarlet Knights won the battle on the boards, grabbing 31 rebounds to Georgetown’s 30. The advantage helped RU out-score the visitors by a 34-22 margin in the paint.
Georgetown supplemented its long range shooting with an efficient performance from the charity stripe. The Hoyas made 17-of-19 (89.5 percent) free throws. GU senior guard Austin Freeman scored a game-high 25 points, courtesy of a four-of-six showing from behind the arc and a nine-for-nine performance at the foul stripe.
The Hoyas jumped-out to an 8-0 lead. Rutgers responded by scoring seven of the game’s next nine points. A Miller lay-up brought RU to within two (18-16) with 6:23 on the clock, but the Scarlet Knights would get no closer. The Hoyas entered the locker room at the midpoint with a 31-25 advantage.
Aided by the long ball, Georgetown ran its lead to a game-high 16 points (44-28) before the first media timeout of the second half. The Scarlet Knights did not relent and answered with an 8-0 run. Before the charged crowd, the Scarlet Knights continued to battle and reduced the deficit to four points (47-43) with just under 10 minutes to play on a Beatty three-pointer.
Unfortunately for the Scarlet faithful, Freeman answered the Beatty trey with one of his own. The visitors maintained an advantage of seven points or greater for the remainder of the contest.
Rutgers returns to the hardwood Thursday (Jan. 20) evening to host USF at the RAC in a 7 p.m. tip-off. The game will be televised live nationally on ESPN2.
Postgame Notes
- With two steals, Coburn moved into a tie with Earl Clark for 25thplace all-time in the RU record book with 91 career steals. He needs three more to tie for 23rd.
- For the 11thtime this season, three Scarlet Knights scored in double-figures. RU is 7-4 when this happens.
- Gilvydas Biruta notched his 11thdouble-digit outing in 14 games with 14 points on 6-of-9 shooting. The freshman added six rebounds, including five offensive boards.
- It marked the second time Biruta has led the team in scoring and fifth time he has led the team in rebounding. The game marked the first time he has led in both categories.
- For the team-leading 11thtime this season – 34thin his career – Jonathan Mitchell notched double-figures with 13 points.
- James Beatty dropped in 12 points for the sixth time this season, ninth in his career.
- Rutgers moves to 11-9 at home against the Hoyas, 16-26 all-time and 7-17 in the BIG EAST regular season.
- Rutgers moves to 8-2 at the RAC this season.
- Miller swatted three-plus shots for the sixth time this season, including four times in the last five games.
- After the Hoyas went on a 13-3 run over 3:46 to open the second half, the Scarlet Knights answered with a 15-3 run over the next 5:05 to bring the score to 47-43 – the closest they would get in the second half.
- In the first half, the Scarlet Knights assisted on nine of 11 baskets.
- Rutgers bench, led by Biruta, held a 20-9 lead over the Hoyas.
- For the first time this season, Mike Rice inserted Austin Johnson into the starting lineup. It was the first his first career start in 47 appearances. It breaks an RU streak of 33-straight contests with a freshman in the lineup.
- Of the eight players that saw action, all eight had at least two points and five had nine-plus.
Postgame Quotes
Rutgers Head coach Mike Rice
Opening Statement:
“They (Rutgers) had a fight to them, (reducing the deficit) all the way back to four points (in the second half), when the Preseason BIG EAST Player of the Year (hit a three) with three-four seconds left in the shot clock. Mike Poole was doing everything he could. We have to learn that you can’t give away possessions, whether it is missed assignments or second chance opportunities. This team is not as talented to do that. They had fight. They had awareness of each other, it just wasn’t good enough.”
On Georgetown:
“They had a stretch for about four minutes where we were just behind. They executed. They stepped up to knock down shots. We tried to get back in the zone a little bit and they attacked more than they have in those last three contests. Those last three contests – our front line might not match up as well as some of those other (players). I thought they did a better job attacking. I don’t know how many threes they hit in the last 10 seconds of the shot clock. You talk about teams in the BIG EAST. They get you to 10 seconds in the shot clock and under, they put the choke hold on you. Right now, we’re not physical enough to do that. We have to work on that.”
On Gilvydas Biruta’s timing:
“I just said on the radio, if someone were to watch his first three games and where he is from then to now, it is staggering. I am proud of the way he played. He felt sorry for himself after the UConn game. I wanted to wake him up a little bit by not starting him and I thought he responded very well. Our centers are capable. Gil is getting better. Both of them have to play defense and rebound better to help us win.”
On getting wins in the BIG EAST:
“That is a very interesting question because I think we are improving. The L’s just keep mounting. You have to keep riding. You keep improving in practice. The people that have been around day after day understand that I’m not satisfied with our guys work in practice. I think that is what we’re missing, where we could improve a little bit more. We are going to grind it out. We have an extra day this week and we’re going to try to take on South Florida.”
On believing Rutgers can win:
“You have to believe it and now they’re starting to believe it. There is more than one guy thinking here is comes again. That is just communicating and understanding. Keep it locked in a bottle. What is our goal today? It is just to improve. That is what we have done every day and that is what we’re going to do. We’ll talk to our seniors. They’re all in. There is no one quitting or pouting about shots. They’re all in. I’m a little concerned with it, but to be honest, not that concerned.”
Georgetown Head Coach John Thompson III
Thoughts on getting the win and having Georgetown’s top two players snap out of a recent shooting slump:
“It is related. It is really good to have these two guys back. If we could have won and they were in a shooting slump, I would take that, but it is related. We need these guys. The way this team is put together, Chris (Wright), Austin (Freeman) and Jason (Clark) are going to have to play well for us. That’s not to say we don’t have other options in the locker room, but we can’t go through a stretch where all of them are slightly out of sync.”
On when Georgetown is shooting well:
“We are a better team when the balls go in the basket.”
On today’s game:
“I think we were extremely aggressive today and the ball went in the basket.”
On Georgetown’s response when Rutgers cut it to a four-point deficit in the second half:
“I think our group and maybe the previous four or five games will say otherwise, but we know that is life in the BIG EAST. Teams are going to make runs on their home court. The RAC is a difficult place to play. They (Rutgers) have great fans and it gets loud in there. They have good players and teams are going to make runs. It was a question of us, at that point, focusing on execution, making the extra pass, getting an open shot.”
