Rutgers
0-0,0-0Big Ten
St. John's
0-0,0-0Big East
| Team | 1 | 2 | OT 1 | OT 2 | OT 3 | OT 4 | F |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rutgers | 46 | 25 | 5 | 13 | 5 | 5 | 99 |
| St. John's (NY) | 28 | 43 | 5 | 13 | 5 | 10 | 104 |
Men's Basketball Falls to St. John’s in Four-Overtime Thriller at MSG
Oct 18 | Men's Basketball
Francis scores 24 and Gurdak posts 20-point, 15-rebound double-double
NEW YORK – Rutgers men's basketball battled St. John's through four overtimes before falling, 104-99, in front of 11,041 fans at Madison Square Garden on Sunday afternoon.
Senior guard Tariq Francis led Rutgers with 24 points and six rebounds in 46 minutes. Sophomore Christian Gurdak added 20 points and a game-high 15 rebounds for a double-double, going 8-of-16 from the field and 4-of-4 at the line. Sophomore guard Lino Mark had 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Fifth-year forward Darren Buchanan Jr. added 13 points and nine rebounds. Junior forward Darin Smith Jr. and fifth-year guard RaSheed Jones each scored 11.
"For the most part I thought we did a lot of good things," Rutgers associate head coach Brandin Knight said. "We just have to finish…have to get a little better with our execution down the stretch, and that's on me."
"We're really good when we play together and we trust each other," said Francis. "In the second half we took some tough shots. But when we play together we can be a really good team, defensively and offensively."
Rutgers controlled the first half. The Scarlet Knights shot 56.7 percent (17-of-30) from the field and closed the half on a 10-0 run to take a 46-28 lead into the break. Francis had 13 first-half points on 6-of-8 shooting. Gurdak added 12 points and six rebounds, and Jones gave the Knights a lift off the bench with eight points on perfect shooting.
"They're the type of team that can beat you off the bounce and score, and that's a strong weapon," St. John's coach Rick Pitino said. "They'll be tough offensively. They play hard. They're a good group."
Smith's step-back jumper to open the second half pushed the lead to 20 at 48-28. St. John's answered with a 16-4 run and tied the game at 52 with 11:58 remaining. The teams traded leads down the stretch. Smith buried a three off a turnover with 57 seconds left to tie it at 69. Gurdak then hit two free throws with 38 seconds left to put Rutgers back in front, 71-69. Quinn Ellis tied it with a driving layup at the 23-second mark, and Buchanan's layup attempt at the buzzer rolled off to force overtime.
Overtimes
- First OT: Free throws from Smith and Mark gave Rutgers a 74-71 lead. Ellis answered with a three. Francis put the Knights back ahead with a turnaround jumper with 1:18 left, but Tounde Yessoufou's layup with 18 seconds left sent the game to a second overtime.
- Second OT: Francis tied it at 87 with a three at 0:46. After Keyshawn Hall made two free throws, Francis answered with two of his own with 22 seconds left to tie it at 89. Gurdak grabbed the rebound on St. John's final miss to force a third overtime.
- Third OT: Francis's driving layup and a Jamichael Davis free throw gave Rutgers a 94-92 lead with 1:26 left. Reed Bailey tied it with a hook shot. Francis then came up with a steal with 11 seconds left, but his pull-up jumper at the horn missed.
- Fourth OT: Smith opened the period with a pull-up jumper for a 96-94 lead. St. John's then scored six straight and went 6-of-6 from the line in the final 1:38 to pull away. Jones's dunk off a steal cut the deficit to 100-98 with 1:10 left, but that was as close as Rutgers got.
Inside the Numbers
- Rutgers outrebounded St. John's 58-51, including an 18-11 edge on the offensive glass. Gurdak (15), Buchanan (9) and Francis and Mark (6 each) led the way.
- The Knights went 29-of-40 (72.5%) at the free-throw line, compared with 26-of-33 for St. John's.
- St. John's won the paint, 58-40, and held Rutgers to 4-of-21 shooting from three.
- The game featured 12 lead changes and 13 ties. Rutgers led for 27:16, and St. John's led for 21:30.
- Hall (24 points, 14 rebounds) and Ian Jackson (24 points) led St. John's. Ellis added 13 points, nine assists, eight rebounds and four blocks in 56 minutes.
- Francis, Smith and Gurdak each played more than 46 minutes.
Rutgers Postgame Press Conference – vs. St. John's (Exhibition)
St. John's 104, Rutgers 99 (4OT) | Madison Square Garden | Sunday, Oct. 18, 2026
Associate Head Coach Brandin Knight, Tariq Francis, Christian Gurdak
BRANDIN KNIGHT – Opening Statement
"First off, congratulations to St. John's. The way they fought back in the second half, I tip my hat to them. I think there were some things we could have controlled and done a better job with, especially to start the second half. I take accountability for that. I probably should have called another timeout just to make sure we got some good looks. We rushed some shots. I just think we didn't start the second half the way we wanted to. In the first half, we did a great job on the defensive and offensive backboards. I think we were plus-eight at the half. Then in the second half, it kind of got away from us. They were able to take over and dictate how we played early on defensively, and we didn't get enough stops and take care of business."
Q: St. John's is known for its physicality, especially on the glass. What does it tell you about this group that you outrebounded them overall and on the offensive boards?
KNIGHT: "Like I said, that was one of the things we did well early on, but we've got to sustain it. We had some turnovers where we were careless. They were a little more aggressive in the second half. I tell our guys it's not our job to referee. They got more physical than we did. Once it got to an evenly played game, we started punching back, and that's why we had the war in overtime."
Q: What worked well during your run at the end of the first half, and what didn't go well offensively when they made their run?
KNIGHT: "First off, what we did a good job of in the first half was defending, and we got points off turnovers. When you're not taking it out [of the net], they can't set their defense and their pressure. That was a big part of it for us. Then the ball kept going in for them, which meant they could apply pressure. The one thing I will say is that when we did break pressure, we have to do a better job of converting on the other end and making the right decisions. We talked about this with our guys: St. John's is very active. Sometimes that works out well for them, and sometimes it gave us opportunities to beat them on backdoor cuts. There were a few times they lost their man just from being so aggressive, and we took advantage of that in the first half. In the second half, we had some careless turnovers, some one-handed passes and some defensive rebounds we thought we had secured. When they stole those, they got layups, and that gets them going. I thought we did a much better job defending the 3. We didn't give them as many open looks, and the guys who did get open looks were probably the ones we'd prefer to be shooting them. For the most part, I thought we did a lot of good things. We just have to finish and close out the game the proper way."
Q: That's two exhibition games against teams projected to finish in the top three of the Big East. What have you learned about your team?
KNIGHT: "Obviously, we have to finish and close. We've got to get a little bit better with execution down the stretch. The biggest thing, like I said, is sustaining it and having those sustained efforts, whether it's on the offensive end or the defensive end, and closing out games."
Q: How do you think you did defending St. John's drives and keeping them out of the paint?
KNIGHT: "For the most part, I thought we did a good job of being in front of them and walling up. On some of the second shots and loose balls, and not to take anything away from them, most of the time when they scored on those plays, we had mix-ups on defense. I thought our guys did a good job of getting in front and keeping our bodies between them and the basket. There are things we want to be perfect on, like screen coverages and dribble handoffs, and we have to improve on all of those. But for the most part, I thought we did a good job of keeping them out of our lane and not giving them easy shots at the rim."
Q: A lot was asked of Lino Mark, handling St. John's pressure for 40-plus minutes. How do you think he held up?
KNIGHT: "He started cramping a little bit. If I had to do it all over again, I'd probably sub a little earlier in the overtimes, but we were trying to win it. He was trying to fight through and finish the game, but at a certain point he just couldn't continue."
Q: What did you think of the way he played overall?
KNIGHT: "I thought he played well. There are some things I'd like to clean up, and that goes for our team as a whole. I felt like we got in the paint at times, and we have to do a better job of finding easier opportunities. Sometimes we took some difficult shots, and when you take an abundance of difficult shots, they tend not to go in as consistently."
Q: Christian, 20 points and 15 rebounds at the Garden. What did you think of your performance?
GURDAK: "Yeah, I thought it was good. I thought I could have done more to help us get over that hump, but overall, pretty good. There's definitely some stuff I would take back, though."
Q: Coach, in an exhibition, when you're going through tough stretches like the second half, are you more willing to let the guys figure it out than you would be during the season?
KNIGHT: "No. For me, it's always about performing and performing well. There are some things we can obviously do better, like shot selection and getting easier looks. Also, when we get stops, we have to get out in transition. In the second half, I thought we didn't get into our offense early enough in transition, even if it's just pushing the tempo, flattening out the defense and making them run back and play on their heels. We'll look at the film, go over it and make sure we're doing a better job of running our lanes and putting pressure on them on both ends of the floor."
Q: In an exhibition that goes four overtimes, how do you weigh the health of your players against trying to win the game?
KNIGHT: "We're all trying to win games. As far as health is concerned, at a certain point, both St. John's and us took some guys out and gave them breathers. They didn't start one of the overtimes. We were just trying to have some fresh legs. But we weren't projecting a second, third or fourth overtime. We just went out there and tried [to win]."
Q: What do you find to be the most challenging thing about playing against St. John's?
PLAYER 1: "For me personally, I'd say the most challenging thing would just be rebounding. Their physicality was good, and they pressed the whole game. So it was about getting open and not letting them push the tempo. That, and rebounding and being physical the whole game, through all four overtimes."
PLAYER 2: "For me, I would say definitely the press. I wasn't in it a lot. I was trying to flash to the ball, but I could tell they were really pressuring us. And with their second-half adjustments, I thought they came out fighting way more."
Q: Tariq, the way you guys played in the first half, what does it tell you about this team's potential?
FRANCIS: "That we're really good, we play well together and we trust each other. In the second half, we took some tough shots, especially me. But I feel like when we play together, we can be a really good team, defensively and offensively."
Q: [On praise from St. John's head coach Rick Pitino]
KNIGHT: "I told him before the game, he's one of my favorites. I talked to Kevin Willard last week. Obviously we're playing them back-to-back, and he's part of that lineage and that tree. Ralph Willard and Pittsburgh are also part of that family, so I've [known him] for a long time. I appreciate when he says things like that. Me, I'm just trying to do a great job for these individuals. This is Coach Pikiell's program. I'm just sitting here in the moment trying to make sure we continue what we've built here and keep moving the needle forward. Like I said last week, the players come first in our program. I appreciate his words and his praise. I'm actually going to be at their practice in a couple of days. So for me, I'm just trying to soak up as much as I can from this opportunity and do the best job I can."
