Rutgers Beats Men's Basketball, 66-60
1/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BOX SCORE (.pdf)
NEWARK, N.J. - The Seton Hall men's basketball team fell to Rutgers, 66-60, at Prudential Center on Saturday. The Pirates (8-12, 2-6) were led by Herb Pope (Aliquippa, Pa.), who scored 15 points and pulled down a game-high 16 rebounds.
Senior Jeremy Hazell (Harlem, N.Y.) also scored 15 points and Jeff Robinson (Trenton, N.J.) had 12 points and eight boards.
Junior Jordan Theodore (Englewood, N.J.) connected with Robinson for an easy layup ten seconds in, but Jonathan Mitchell scored the Scarlet Knights (12-7, 3-4) next five points to put Rutgers on top, 5-2 with 16:26 remaining. Mitchell later capped an 11-2 spurt with a tip-in to put the Scarlet Knights ahead, 21-10, at the 8:22 mark.
A Robinson three from the right wing pulled the Hall within six with 5:47 before the half, but Rutgers scored eight unanswered to build the lead back up to 29-15 with 3:10 to go, and took a 31-23 lead into the break.
Pope threw down a monstrous one-handed jam on a putback with 12:20 left in regulation to cut the margin to, 41-36, but every time the Pirates tried to make a run the Scarlet Knights had an answer.
A three by Theodore made it a four-point game, but Dane Miller and Givydas Biruta hit back-to-back jumpers to give Rutgers a 49-41 edge with 6:31 remaining. The Scarlet Knights remained in control and held a 61-50 lead with just 1:52 to go before SHU made one last rally.
Theodore went coast-to-coast and Hazell converted from beyond the arc after a Rutgers turnover, slicing the deficit to six. After Mike Coburn hit just 1-of-2 from the charity stripe, freshman Fuquan Edwin (Paterson, N.J.) hit a three-pointer to make it 62-58 with just 56 seconds left.
The Scarlet Knights left the door open again by knocking down just 1-of-2 free throws, but the Pirates missed a pair of three's down the stretch, and Rutgers held on for the win.
Miller led the Scarlet Knights with 17 points and 10 boards. Biruta added 12 points and 11 rebounds.
Seton Hall had another tough shooting night, converting on just a 33.8 percent clip for the contest, while Rutgers shot 47.2 percent.
The Pirates are back in action on Tuesday, January 25 at Syracuse. Game-time is set for 7:00 p.m.
