Rutgers University
Monmouth
MBB Comeback Bid Falls Short Versus Monmouth
Dec 20 | Men's Basketball
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Coach Jordan Postgame Press Conference
PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Freshman point guard Corey Sanders scored 16 points with four assists, but Rutgers (4-7) struggled from the field in a 73-67 loss to Monmouth (8-3) Sunday afternoon at the RAC. With three key frontcourt contributors sidelined by Injury, the Scarlet Knights battled before 6,637 fans in the hard-fought defeat.
Sophomore guard Mike Williams and senior guard Bishop Daniels joined Sanders in double figures with 15 and 12 points, respectively. Daniels was a perfect 6-of-6 at the free throw line, while Sanders deposited 9-of-10. The guard trio comprised 64 percent of RU's scoring.
Senior center Greg Lewis and sophomore forward D.J. Foreman, the only active frontcourt players on the roster, responded to the challenge by posting career-highs on the boards. Foreman had 11 rebounds in 31 minutes, while Lewis had 10 in 36.
Despite the strong efforts by Foreman and Lewis, the Scarlet Knights were unable to overcome the frontcourt disparity and were out-scored 42-14 in the paint. Monmouth also established a 35-15 advantage in bench points against the limited roster.
After trailing by as many as 13 points in the second half, Rutgers tied the game at 65 after a William's free throw with just over two minutes to play. The RAC was rocking in anticipation of a comeback finish, but RU could not tweak the twine despite developing several good looks from the field. Eight of the final 10 points in the final two minutes were logged by the visitors.
The first half was played at a fast, back-and-forth tempo that produced two ties and nine lead changes. The Scarlet Knights shot just 29.4 percent (10-of-34), but were helped behind the arc, where they made 5-of-9 (55.6 percent). The Hawks shot markedly better, hitting 46.9 percent (15-of-32) to take a 37-31 lead into the locker room at the midpoint.
RU's hot first half shooting from long range, did not continue in the second half, however, as the Scarlet Knights made just 2-of-13 from behind the arc in the final 20 minutes. Rutgers concluded the day shooting 30.2 percent (19-of-63), while Monmouth benefitted from a 46.0 percent (29-of-63) mark.
Three Hawks scored in double figures, led by guard Justin Robinson with 14 points.
Rutgers returns to the hardwood Wednesday (Dec. 23) for a 7 p.m. tip-off versus Fairleigh Dickinson at the RAC. The game will be streamed live via the web on BTN Plus.
Postgame Notes
- Rutgers made a season-high seven three-pointers.
- Greg Lewis had a career-high 10 rebounds. He played a season-high 36 minutes, the second highest total of his career.
- D.J. Foreman had a career-high 11 rebounds.
- Rutgers had two players with double digit rebounds for the first time since a 66-51 victory over Canisius on Nov. 18, 2013 (Wally Judge 12 rebounds, Kadeem Jack 11).
- Corey Sanders had a game-high 16 points. It was his seventh time reaching double figure scoring in 10 games played. Sanders leads all Big Ten freshmen with 12.7 points per game.
- Mike Williams scored 15 points, his sixth time in double figures this season.
- Bishop Daniels reached double figures with 12 points, including 6-of-6 from the free throw line.
- Daniels had a career-high three blocks.
- It was the sixth time this season Rutgers had at least three players score in double digits.
- Omari Grier scored a season-high nine points.
- Rutgers now leads the all-time series against Monmouth 9-1.
- The crowd of 6,637 was the largest of the season for a Rutgers game.
Postgame Quotes
Rutgers Head Coach Eddie Jordan
Opening Statement
"I told the team that we have a game on Wednesday, so the next two days we're going to work on some things that we didn't do well. The effort and the harmony of the team were at a season-high. We gave great effort, shared the ball and tried to stay organized especially in the second half. We made a lot of adjustments because we don't have three bigs who are important to our success and rotation. Mike Williams should be an undersized two guard and he's playing the four. We have Jonathan Laurent who's a three man playing a five. Greg is logging a lot of minutes at center, so the adjustments we made are going to come slowly, but our effort was there and I was proud of our effort. Give a lot of credit to Monmouth. They're on a roll and have a good thing going. Ki ng Rice has done a tremendous job with them. As we move forward, I don't want my team taking a step backwards in the effort department."
On getting open looks at the end of the game
"I thought one was kind of half way down, but that was the last one and that was probably a non-factor. We just have to look for the positives. The silver lining behind the dark cloud is that we created an open shot and that's step one. Step two it goes in and step three we win the game."
On fatigue playing a part in the outcome
"I'd say it was a factor, but I didn't see. I didn't see it in their heart, I didn't see it in their eyes, I didn't see it in their effort. If they were tired, they still gave 100 percent effort. We say that the effort level can't go below 80 percent. Obviously, you can't stay at 100 percent the whole time, you know this if you played sports at a high level. We have to drop off somewhere; we just can't drop off 80 percent. It's like a gauge for us and we didn't drop below 90."
On being motivated for Monmouth
"We had some good practices this week and we knew where we were when Ibrahima [Diallo] went down that hopefully we're going to be the greatest small team in America. It was the first time we played without our center and our backup center. Mike's playing forward and Jonathan is playing center, so this is the first time in a game that we've done this. That's a heck of an adjustment for those guys. It's going to throw them off a little bit and throw off our rhythm and our execution, but it didn't throw off our effort."
Monmouth Head Coach King Rice
Opening statement: "I think it is important that we get to play Rutgers. I thanked Eddie (Jordan) last year and I thanked him again this year. Hopefully we can do this again in the future. I give Eddie a lot of credit. I knew he would have his team ready. They slowed us down just enough to keep us off. Their kids were competing extremely hard. It is hard when you lose some players, its hard when things aren't going your way. Everybody in the room knows. I went through this for three whole years. There aren't a lot of answers when a kid goes down. I think Eddie did a great job having his kids ready tonight. They made us play not our best. It wasn't a thing where we weren't ready. We were prepared and telling the team how it was going to be. They did a tremendous job keeping us off just a little bit so we couldn't click like we like to. All the credit to them. I'm not one of those coaches who says 'well we didn't have our stuff today.' We didn't have stuff because of their defense. Their zone messed us up. I am very fortunate to have these young men on my team who believe what we do. We made just enough plays to get the win."
On a close finish: "I told my coaches, 'guys we might be in trouble right now.' Then Josh (James) makes a play or Deon (Jones) attacks the rim. I have to give Rutgers all the credit. They made us play that way. We weren't sharp. I looked up at one point in the second half and we had 40 points. That may have happened once this season. They made us not score the ball, credit to Rutgers."
