Rutgers
1-0,0-0Big Ten
New Haven
0-2,0-0NEC
| Team | 1 | 2 | F |
|---|---|---|---|
| New Haven | 23 | 31 | 54 |
| Rutgers | 39 | 42 | 81 |
Nov 06 | Men's Basketball
PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball opened the 2026-27 season with an 81-54 win over New Haven on Friday night at Jersey Mike's Arena. It was Brandin Knight's first win as acting head coach. RU has now won 10 of its last 11 season openers.
Rutgers led for 39 of the 40 minutes. It shot 50 percent from the field (30-of-60), outrebounded New Haven 37-28 and outscored the Chargers 36-22 in the paint. The Scarlet Knights forced 17 turnovers and turned them into 24 points. They also had a 37-18 edge in bench scoring and 19-9 in second-chance points, and assisted on 16 of their 30 field goals.
"We wanted to play a complete 40 minutes and just dominate on both ends of the floor," Knight said. "We wanted to speed them up a little bit and just play an overall more aggressive game."
Fifteen Scarlet Knights played, and nine made their official Rutgers debuts. No player logged more than 25 minutes, and eight played between 15 and 25.
RaSheed Jones and Tariq Francis shared team-high honors with 14 points apiece. Jones went 5-of-6 from the field and 4-of-5 from 3-point range in his Rutgers debut. Francis passed 1,500 career points and now has 1,510. Jamichael Davis came off the bench and went 5-of-5 from the field for 13 points, with five rebounds, three steals and a game-best plus-22. His assist on Christian Gurdak's second-half dunk was the 200th of his career. Gurdak added 12 points, three assists and two steals and made all four of his free throws. Darin Smith Jr. had nine points and six rebounds in his first game as a Scarlet Knight.
Rutgers took control early. After a 6-6 tie, a 12-0 run put RU up 18-6, and New Haven made just two of its first 12 shots. The Scarlet Knights shot 48.4 percent in the first half and scored 15 points off 10 New Haven turnovers. They finished the half on a 9-0 run. Francis threw an alley-oop to Davis, and Davis hit a 3 off a Darren Buchanan Jr. steal, putting Rutgers up 39-21. A New Haven basket at the buzzer cut the halftime lead to 39-23.
Rutgers scored the first 12 points of the second half to go ahead 51-25. Mark hit a 3, Gurdak made four free throws and Francis hit a 3. RU built its biggest lead at 67-37 on Jones' fourth 3-pointer with 10:03 left. New Haven answered with a 7-0 run but got no closer than 21.
Teshaun Steele and Zoumana Traore scored 15 points each for New Haven, which fell to 0-2.
"It was fun to finally get out here and play in front of the fans and everybody," Jones said, "but the biggest thing is we got the win."
Before the game, head coach Steve Pikiell, who is undergoing cancer treatment, sent Knight a message. "He said, 'Make sure you smile,'" Knight said. "That was one of his biggest things. Have fun, enjoy it, and it's always about the guys."
Up Next
Rutgers stays home for its next two games. It hosts NJIT on Tuesday at 6:30 p.m. on BTN and Bryant on Friday at 6 p.m.
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Postgame Quotes
Acting Head Coach Brandin Knight | RaSheed Jones
BRANDIN KNIGHT: First, I just want to thank our fans. I'm very thankful and grateful that everyone showed up tonight. As you can see, the Rutgers Tough shirts mean a lot to Coach Pikiell, and they mean a lot to us and the program. To show you the kind of support our fans have, they sold out the first day. So kudos and a big shout-out to our fans for the support tonight. They gave us great energy. You could probably ask these guys about it, but we felt it. It felt electric for the first night, and hopefully we keep that same competitive edge we normally get that makes this one of the toughest places to play.
As far as the basketball side, we accomplished a lot of the things we wanted to tonight. We wanted to play a complete 40 minutes and dominate on both ends of the floor. I think we were plus-nine on the glass, and I think we forced 17 turnovers. We wanted to speed them up a little bit and play an overall more aggressive game. So we started by going inside early, and then this guy to my right made some shots, and these two guys to my left, especially RaSheed [Jones], really gave us a boost from the 3-point line tonight.
We got everybody in for the most part. KP [Kaden Powers] has been under the weather the last couple of days. That's why he was the only guy that didn't get in tonight. We're just managing him because he had been out the last couple of days, but he'll be back on Tuesday.
As far as total team effort, I was happy we were able to get everybody in, get some minutes and get their feet wet so they know what the Rutgers crowd looks like. Like I said, it was great to be out of the exhibition season. We've been together since June. Most seasons last about five or six months, and this is like the second season for us. Obviously, this is the real test. These are the real games and the real schedule, and we want to make sure we come out and perform really well every night.
Q. Brandin, you had to go to your bench for your bigs early when Christian [Gurdak] got a couple of fouls. What did you think about how [Mervedi] Miteo and Diego [Garavaglia] responded, and why did you call on them so early in the game?
BRANDIN KNIGHT: Well, they practice really well. I think we really have two starting lineups. We have a bunch of guys who could be in and out of the lineup, and I just ask them to take care of each other. Some nights it's going to be one guy's night. Tonight it was Jamichael [Davis] and RaSheed's night. We had great efforts from Miteo and Diego. All of those guys came in, and all of our guys on the bench did the job on both ends of the floor. Darren Buchanan [Jr.] was great moving the ball, getting on the glass, defending and doing all the little things. I was really pleased with what we did for the most part.
When we go back and watch the film, we'll probably have some things we can clean up. I know we had some miscommunication on a few possessions. My biggest thing, and I tell these guys this, is that momentum is a real thing. Tonight, I think their biggest run might have been 6-0. We want to keep that to a minimum against every team, and when we get up, we want to stretch the lead and keep pushing.
Q. Coach, I know you've been adamant about not wanting to make this about you as acting head coach, but can you tell us your emotions after [the game], your first win in this role?
BRANDIN KNIGHT: Like I said, it's all about these guys. My happiness really comes from how we do as a team. I always said this, even when I was a player at Pittsburgh, and I've said it to these guys: I might not have been the greatest player to ever go out on the floor, but my best skill was how I connected with my teammates and the balance. I played on teams where six or seven guys averaged between seven and 13 points, but the biggest thing was that we won. There were a lot of talented guys out there, and I can give them credit for that. But for 40 minutes, my only goal was to be one point better than the other team.
If there's anything I can impress upon these guys, it's that we win and we lose together as a unit. As excited as I am for these guys today, that's always going to be the story for me.
Q. You mentioned the 17 turnovers. They led to 24 points off turnovers. How were you able to punish New Haven with the turnovers?
BRANDIN KNIGHT: These guys have great speed, and we made good decisions once we forced turnovers. For us, that's the biggest thing. I just want to get great shots. I want us to select the shots we're taking, meaning the ones we want, not what the defense is giving us. Coach Smoke has a saying, "Great over good." We never want to settle for good when we can get great. Today these guys did a great job of finding each other and making the extra pass, and I think it showed. We had 16 assists on 30 baskets. Hopefully we keep getting that number up and keep sharing it. Like I said, this is the first time we've ever had 15 scholarship guys, so all of them have to give a little bit and sacrifice a little bit for each other.
Q. On that thought, you played basically everybody tonight. How did you feel personally about managing all the different rotations, and how do you think the guys handled playing in so many combinations, with bigs and littles and mixing and matching everywhere?
BRANDIN KNIGHT: Like I said, we've been together since June. Some guys have been here since June, and some got here in mid-August, so we've been piecing it together. RaSheed, you might have played the one, two and three for the first six weeks. At times Smitty [Darin Smith Jr.] has played the three and the four. Darren Buchanan used to be our backup five at times; now he's only playing the four, and sometimes when we play bigger, he might be at the three. I'm asking all of these guys to do a lot when they have to learn multiple positions, but if you want to be on the floor, you have to be able to adapt to whoever is out there.
Q. Brandin, I know Steve has been around the facility as much as he can. What was your communication with him like today? Did you talk to him before or since the game? I'm curious how that works.
BRANDIN KNIGHT: He was here yesterday. Coach [Pikiell] sent me a great note earlier in the day. It's funny, he said, "Make sure you smile." That was one of his biggest things: Have fun, enjoy it, and it's always about the guys. He said, "Have a good time and smile." That's just the way he is. He can find positivity in anything.
Coach is one of the strongest people I know. He's shown up here two to three times, showing how tough he is. There are days when it's not easy to get out of bed, but Coach comes around, watches practice and gives encouragement. I hope it's inspiring not only to me but to all of these guys. Whatever kind of adversity you think you're dealing with right now, it's nothing like what Coach and his family have been dealing with. If anything, hopefully these shirts really mean something to us internally, and we wear that on our backs for the rest of the year.
Q. Coach, can you speak about the role Jamichael Davis played tonight coming off the bench, with a lot of energy, and that alley-oop at the end of the first half?
BRANDIN KNIGHT: Unbelievable. Unbelievable. We talk about this, and you could ask everyone on our team: Jamichael is our leader. He sacrifices so many different things. He's always trying to help, and he's always there, first guy in and last guy to leave. He's all about team, team, team. He's the epitome of what you want in your program, the kind of DNA and the kind of person. His energy is infectious, and I think he brought that to the crowd and to the floor today.
I think Reek [Tariq Francis] trusted him a little bit, and that's why he threw him the lob. I don't know what ladder he stepped on for that one, but he got a little help. He pushed up on somebody's arms on that one. (Laughter.)
Reek threw it to him, and with that connection and trust in each other, he threw it and Jamichael converted. We tried another one with Lino [Mark]. I told [June] we're going to take him out of the lob-passing business if he's going to throw it into the stands like that.
Like I said, Jamichael is unbelievable. He's one of only 17 guys who have been at the same place for four years. So we're definitely thankful that we have him and thankful that he is the way he is.
Q. RaSheed, what was it like making your debut here, scoring 14 points, hitting 3s and being part of a big win in this kind of environment?
RASHEED JONES: It was fun to finally get out here and play in front of the fans and everybody, but the biggest thing is we got the win. That's really all that matters.
