Rutgers University
Central Arkansas
MBB Earns Win over Central Arkansas 87-84
Nov 21 | Men's Basketball
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PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Junior forward Deshawn Freeman scored 23 points on 9-of-15 shooting with eight rebounds and sophomore guard Mike Williams had 25 points with five three-pointers to help Rutgers (3-1) to an 87-84 win over Central Arkansas (0-3) Saturday evening at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights shot 50.9 percent (29-of-57) to earn the hard-fought victory in a game that had nine ties and nine lead changes.
It marked career-high scoring totals for both Freeman and Sanders, who combined for 55 percent of the teams scoring. Freeman also contributed four blocks and four steals, while Williams shot 8-of-14 and 5-of-8 from long range.
Freshman guard Corey Sanders and junior forward D.J. Foreman posted double figures as well, scoring 14 and 10 respectively. Sanders also dished out six assists and was a perfect 6-of-6 at the charity stripe. Foreman collected a career-high 10 rebounds for his first double-double.
Rutgers won the game in crunch time. With the score tied at 81 with less than a minute to play, a Freeman layup gave RU the edge before Sanders sank four free throws in the final 20 seconds to seal the win.
Central Arkansas held a 75-71 lead with under four minutes to play. The Scarlet Knights responded with a 10-2 run, however, to set up the winning finish.
The first 20 minutes was sluggish, with UCA committing 15 fouls that resulted in 20 Rutgers free throws. Despite the discrepancy, the Bears held a slim lead for the majority of the half.
The highlight of the opening stanza came at the 5:32 mark, when Sanders elevated for highlight reel slam dunk on a fast break pass from Freeman that brought the crowd to its feet.
The visitors' largest advantage was six points, while RU's biggest buffer was four points before the teams entered the locker rooms at the midpoint tied at 38.
Rutgers returns to the hardwood versus Creighton on Monday evening at the MGM Grand in Las Vegas in the Men Who Speak Up Main Event championship round. The game tips off at 9 p.m. local (midnight ET) and will be streamed via the bd Global Youtube channel here. It will mark the first meeting between the Scarlet Knights and Blue Jays.
Postgame Notes
• Mike Williams had a career-high 25 points. He also made a career-best five three-pointers.
• It was the second time in his career Williams scored at least 20 points.
• Deshawn Freeman posted career-best numbers with 23 points, eight rebounds, four blocks and four steals.
• D.J. Foreman had his first career double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds. It was his first career game reaching double figures in rebounding.
• Corey Sanders had 14 points with a career-high six assists and was perfect 6-6 at the free throw line.
• Rutgers reached 80 points for the second time this season with a season-high 87.
• Rutgers has started a season at 3-1 for the first time since 2009-10.
• RU had four players in double digits for the first time this season
• Rutgers used this starting lineup for the second straight game: guard Corey Sanders, guard Mike Williams, forward D.J. Foreman, forward Deshawn Freeman, center Greg Lewis.
• The victory gives Rutgers two wins in the opening round of the Men Who Speak Up Main Event. Next, RU will travel to Las Vegas for the Heavyweight Bracket, where they will face Creighton and either UMass or Clemson.
Postgame Quotes
Rutgers Head Coach Eddie Jordan
Opening statement...
"It was a grind. We escaped a good team in Central Arkansas. They have some good personnel. Russ does a great job with them. They have a good motion offense and a potential pro ib (Derreck) Brooks, I think. Our guys grinded it out. We made free throws down the stretch. Overall, our best players played well."
On the defense in the final strech...
"We adjusted some in our defensive scheme. We went to switching everything because we wanted to make sure that we were up on three-point shooters and they didn't swing it around and get an open jump shot. The other part was, the guys made up their mind, to come back and get it done. Corey and especially Deshawn took a leadership role in that span right there."
On making free throws down the stretch...
"Can we take some of those free throws and put them back to the St. John's game and be 4-0? Look, we saw a lot of upsets in the Big Ten last night. All these teams are good. We got things done today to avoid one of those sort of losses."
Central Arkansas Head Coach Russ Pennell
On shooting the ball well …
"We know Jordan [Howard] can score. There was a reason he led the league in 3-point shooting last year. He got out here yesterday and got some extra shots and I felt like he was going to have a big game. I credit Rutgers. Their defense was good, and they're big.
"That's one of the issues when we play these teams up in the Power Five conferences. People always ask me 'what's the biggest thing between a Southland and a Big Ten?' Obviously the players are good, but we've got good players in our league. It's usually size. They're really big inside and I thought we did a good job on the glass, but they wore us down a little bit too, especially getting to the foul line."
On playing through foul trouble …
"It was very frustrating. One of the other things was I thought we fouled some of those fouls, but the same things were happening on the other end and we weren't getting some of those calls. And that's part of the game - you're on the road, you're going to get that. But the big thing is this - if you noticed we came out to start the half and we were in a zone.
"They hit a three, but then we got two-straight stops out of it, and we did that to kind of try to protect us. Derreck [Brooks] had three [fouls], Jake [Zuilhof] had three [fouls], and [Justin] Foreman had three [fouls]. So we were in a little bit of dire straits with three starters in foul trouble, but I thought we managed it well. That's why we need guys like Boo Milligan. I thought he had a nice game, he came in and did some good stuff. And even Tanner [Schmit] came in and did some good things we needed today."
