Men's Basketball Hosts Maine Saturday

Saturday, December 29

Piscataway, N.J.

3 p.m.

Rutgers University

Maine

Photo by: (Ben Solomon/Rutgers Athletics)

Dec 26 | Men's Basketball

Tickets Watch Listen Live Stats Rutgers Game Notes Big Ten Notes Maine Game Notes

MAINE BLACK BEARS (2-11) AT RUTGERS SCARLET KNIGHTS (6-5)
Saturday, Dec. 29, 2018 | 3 p.m.
The RAC (8,000) | Piscataway, N.J.

TV: BTN Plus (Ralph Bednarczyk, play-by-play & Dom Savino, analyst)
Radio: Rutgers IMG Sports Network (WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM/XM 90) (Jerry Recco & Joe Boylan)
Series Record: Rutgers leads 3-0
Last Meeting: Rutgers 91, Maine 56 (Dec. 15, 2005 at The RAC)

PROMOTION: Winter Break at The RAC: Students with a valid Rutgers ID can bring guests in the student section. Guest tickets can be claimed via the normal student claim process.

OPENING TIP: Rutgers welcomes America East-member Maine in a 3 p.m. tip-off Saturday at The RAC in the Scarlet Knights' final non-conference contest of the regular season. RU will work to improve to 24-4 in non-conference home games under head coach Steve Pikiell. The Black Bears are a familiar foe for Pikiell, who established a 17-7 record against Maine while at the Stony Brook helm from 2005-16.

The Scarlet Knights are coming off a 68-65 home overtime victory against Columbia last Saturday. RU rallied from a 15-point first half deficit, while limiting the Lions to their second lowest scoring output of the season. Eugene Omoruyi and Geo Baker scored 18 and 13 points, respectively, while Shaq Carter provided a career-best 13 points, all after halftime. Caleb McConnell was 4-of-4 at the charity stripe in overtime while playing the entirety of the extra stanza.

THE SERIES: Saturday marks the fourth meeting in the series that dates back to 1924, with the Scarlet Knights winning the prior three match-ups. Rutgers took the first meeting, 58-29, on Dec. 19, 1924, at home inside the Ballantine Gymnasium, won 72-63 on Jan. 2, 1959 on the road, and then claimed a 91-56 win at The RAC on Dec. 15, 2005. Quincy Douby scored 22 points on 8-of-14 shooting to pace RU in the most recent match-up.

THE OPPONENT: Maine is 2-11 with wins over Fordham in double-overtime and versus Maine-Machias. The Black Bears have suffered three overtime defeats under first-year head coach Richard Barron, who spent the past six seasons as the head women's coach at Maine (2011-17). He previously served as the head women's coach at Princeton (2001-07), where he was 0-3 against C. Vivian Stringer-led Rutgers.

Redshirt junior guard Isaiah White leads Maine in scoring with 15.0 points-per-game. The UNC-Asheville transfer scored 22 points in the Bears' last outing, a double-overtime home loss to Central Connecticut State last Saturday. Maine ranks 68th nationally with 7.8 steals-per-game.

COACHING COMPARISON
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell
Overall Record (years)                             226-198 (14th)
Rutgers Record (years)                            36-42 (3rd)
Record vs. Maine (RU)                            0-0
Record vs. Maine (overall)                     17-7

Maine Head Coach Richard Barron
Overall Record (years)                             234-239 (18th)
Maine Record (years)                              2-11 (1st)
Record vs. RU (Maine)                             0-0
Record vs. RU (overall)                            0-0

SCARLET KNIGHT NOTABLES

Per KenPom.com analysis, Rutgers is among the nation's youngest teams with 1.22 years of experience to rank 307th nationally out of 353 D-I programs.
Rutgers ranks 11th nationally in offensive rebounds per game (14.6), 23rd in rebounds per game (41.09), 30th in blocked shots (5.1), 37th in scoring defense (63.7), and 51st in rebound margin (5.7). RU is among the top five in the Big Ten in five stat categories, including second in offensive rebounds (14.36).
Sixteen of Rutgers' 30 regular season games (53%) are against opponents currently ranked or receiving votes in the polls. Five Big Ten programs that have won NCAA titles will compete in Piscataway, including five-time champion Indiana.
Eugene Omoruyi is tied for 30th nationally with five double-doubles.
Eugene Omoruyi's 17 rebounds vs. BU marked the most for a Rutgers player since Adrian Hill grabbed 18 versus Notre Dame on March 3, 2007, a span of 12 seasons.
Against Eastern Michigan, Rutgers allowed four points in the opening half to tie the NCAA Division I record for fewest points allowed in a half during the shot clock era (since 1985-86). The 36 points allowed also tied the school record, matching the defensive effort against Columbia (60-36) on Nov. 18, 2002 in the preseason NIT at the RAC.
In the shot clock era, Rutgers has held an opponent under 40 points eight times. Steve Pikiell has been the head coach in four of those contests.
Per KenPom.com analysis, Rutgers is among the nation's tallest teams with an average height of 79.0" to rank sixth among all D-I programs.