Rutgers University
UMass-Lowell
MBB Defeats UMass-Lowell 89-66
Dec 28 | Men's Basketball
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Rutgers (6-7) shot season-bests of 53.7 percent (36-of-67) overall and 62.5 percent (10-of-16) from behind the arc in an 89-66 victory over UMass-Lowell (4-8) Monday evening at the RAC. Senior guard Omari Grier posted 22 points and freshman point guard Corey Sanders added 20 to help the Scarlet Knights close out their non-conference campaign in convincing fashion.
Grier and Sanders paced four Scarlet Knights in double figures. Grier was 8-of-11 from the field and 6-of-7 from behind the arc, which tied for the third best performance from three-point range in RU history. Sanders, the Big Ten Conference Freshman of the Week, was 8-of-14 from the field and 3-of-5 from three with seven rebounds and four assists. Freshman forward Jonathan Laurent had his first career double with 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting with 15 rebounds, while sophomore guard Mike Williams added 10 points.
Rutgers led by as much as 25 points in the contest, thanks to a balanced scoring attack that saw seven players post six or more points. The Scarlet Knights dished-out 17 assists and established a 29-9 advantage in bench points.
The teams exchanged baskets in the early going, producing an 11-11 tie. The Riverhawks would take a five-point lead at 20-15, but the Scarlet Knights responded with a big run to gain control.
Keyed by three pointers on back-to-back possessions from Grier and redshirt freshman guard Justin Goode, RU made five of its next seven shots for a 10-2 burst to give the home squad a 25-22 lead at the under-12 media timeout. After that break, the Scarlet Knights had a stretch where they scored 10 consecutive points, extending the run to 22-6 for a 37-26 advantage. In all, Rutgers outscored UMass Lowell 28-12 over the final 10 minutes of the first frame to take an 11-point, 43-32, halftime lead.
UMass-Lowell rallied out of the intermission, using two separate 5-0 runs to cut the deficit to five points. After a Riverhawk timeout, the Scarlet Knights responded, going on a 10-0 run, which was keyed by Sanders and capped by a three-pointer from Grier, which pushed the advantage to 61-46.
Grier kept hitting from long-distance, splashing consecutive threes, while connecting with Sanders for a highlight-reel alley-oop and Rutgers pushed its advantage to 20 at 74-54, with 7:17 to play. The home squad commanded the contest for the remainder en route to the 23-point victory.
The Scarlet Knights begin Big Ten play at the RAC on Wednesday in 1 p.m. tip-off versus Indiana. The game will be televised live nationally on ESPN2.
Post-Game Notes
Omari Grier shot 85.7 percent (6-of-7) from behind the arc. That percentage tied Todd Billet (2/11/01 vs. Pittsburgh) and Tom Savage (12/10/88 vs. George Washington) for the 3rd best single-game three-point percentage in school history.
Grier scored 22 points his most in a Scarlet Knight uniform. His six made three-pointers and three assists were both his most of the season.
Corey Sanders scored 20 points for the second consecutive game. It was his third game this season scoring at least 20 points. Sanders also had a career-high seven rebounds.
It was the first time RU had two players score at least 20 points since the win over No. 4 last season on January 11 (Myles Mack 21 points, Kadeem Jack 20 points).
Jonathan Laurent had his first career double-double (13 points, 15 rebounds). The 15 rebounds were Laurent's career-high and his first time reaching double-digit rebounds this season.
Rutgers has had a player with a double-double for the second straight game (Greg Lewis and Mike Williams vs. FDU, 12/23).
Mike Williams had 10 points, scoring in double-digits for the 8th time this year.
Four players reached double figure scoring for the fourth time this season and second consecutive game.
Rutgers scored a season-high 89 points.
Rutgers shot 62.5 percent on three-pointers (10-of-16). That was the best three-point percentage since a win over Howard on December 21, 2012, when RU shot 66.7 percent (8-of-12).
The 10 made three-pointers were the most threes made in the game since making 10 on January 29, 2014 at Temple.
Rutgers shot 53.7 percent from the field (36-of-67), its best mark of the season. The last time RU shot at least 53 percent was last season, in a 67-62 win over No. 4 Wisconsin (RU was 54.3 percent on field goals).
Rutgers used the starting lineup of Corey Sanders, Mike Williams, Omari Grier, D.J. Foreman and Greg Lewis for the sixth consecutive game.
Rutgers bench outscored UMass Lowell's bench 29-9. It was the fourth game this season in which Rutgers had an advantage of at least 20 in bench points.
Post-Game Quotes
Rutgers Head Coach Eddie Jordan
Opening Statement: "It was very satisfying to win with a cushion like that. It was very satisfying to see our guys' shots go in. That was the name of the game to make shots, especially three's, the way we did. We stayed organized and we stayed disciplined those shots. Some of them came against their man and they switched up their zone and I was really satisfied by how we reacted to that. We didn't panic. We didn't do anything out of the ordinary. We stayed disciplined. We saw what we had to do against their 1-3-1 and we made more shots. I just said on the radio, the game plan was to drive, drive, get to the basket, post up, get a lot of paint scores, but in the end what wins for you is the three ball."
On Grier's performance and team confidence moving forward: "The first thing I wrote on the board post game - confidence, unselfishness, defending and rebounding. That is what I saw in the second half. You saw them play with confidence, unselfishness. We were disciplined to move the ball, to not turn it over so much and yet there was room to drive. Our freshmen were big. Corey was big. Jonathan was big with 15 rebounds. He is a small forward playing a center for us."
On the momentum headed into Big Ten play: "We are ready. I told the guys. This is why we recruited you. This is why you came. We sold the Big Ten. We sold a great university. We sold a handsome coach. And that's why they came. Let's get ready. Let's buckle up the boot straps. Let's put our hard hats on, play with more discipline, play with more toughness. I was disappointed in our physicality in the first half. They moved us around. We didn't rebound. We worked on rebounding in so many different ways in the last three or four days. So that has got to be big emphasis. Playing smart, playing with confidence playing unselfish basketball and toughness."
On quick turnaround: "I like it whether you win or lose. If you lost you get over with and get to the next game. If you win you feel good and it is a lighter practice on Tuesday. It is more mental and game planning stuff and shooting. Then let's go play again. I love it."
UMass-Lowell Head Coach Pat Duquette
Opening Statement: "Congratulations to Rutgers. Good win for them. I thought they did some things really well. Obviously, I wasn't happy with the end result. I thought we came out pretty good. Isaac [White] hit some shots and that kind of gave us some energy, and then we were stagnant. We had some guys that came in and didn't look very comfortable and kind of lost control of the momentum a little bit and never got it back."
On what UMass-Lowell did well early in the contest: "We did what we normally do well. We played good offense and made the right plays, spaced the floor and shared the ball. When we're effective, that's what we're doing well. Defensively, that's been our Achilles' heal and that's what we need to get better at, quickly."
On what Rutgers did well to close out the game: "They're good. They have quick, big guards that get in the lane, and that's what they did. They got in the lane and drew the help and they shared the ball, found the open man and made some three's. I thought they played good team offense and knocked down shots. Credit to them."
On what his team needs to take away from the game: "We have to keep getting better without beating ourselves up. I think that's been one of the toughest challenges in this huge transition that we're doing by going from Division II to Division I to be real with ourselves and to challenge ourselves and to make ourselves better without beating each other up. At the end of the day we need to pick ourselves up, stay together and understand that this is a long process."
