Knights Survive Scare, Top Dartmouth 62-56

Two clutch foul shots by freshman point guard Jerome Seagears sealed a sloppy win for Rutgers to open the season Friday night at the RAC in Piscataway, NJ. Fellow freshmen guards Myles Mack and Eli Carter added nine each, while junior wing Dane Miller paced the team with twelve points and six rebounds.

On a night where defense and inconsistency played a major role, it was Mike Rice who had the last laugh. Despite sixteen turnovers and clutch careless miscues down the stretch, Rutgers held a clear advantage in the rebounding department and shot the ball better by slightly over eleven percent.

Rutgers jumped out to a 10-2 lead behind calm and collected play. But that relaxing way of the game went away as the Scarlet Knights led by a single point at the end of the first half. The second half was a similar story as Rutgers grabbed an advantage but failed to pull away. “At times when we got up by eight, nine, and ten points, we would play careless and casual, which young teams will do.”

Dartmouth eventually cut their deficit to three on a long trifecta from RJ Griffin. But that’s as far as the Big Green could manage as Biruta knocked down one free throw and Seagears knocked down two to ice a relieving win over Dartmouth.

Despite being projected to finish last in the Ivy League, the Big Green hung in there, led by Griffin’s fifteen points. “Give credit to Dartmouth, they controlled the tempo,” said Rice who breathed multiple sighs of relief after that final horn. “We were at Princeton last year and played almost the exact same type of game. We gave effort but were so sloppy in the details of the game.”

The youth really was on display in large parts of the game, especially from the trio of guards. “Inconsistent, but that’s what you’re going to find from those three. I think they’re playing really hard and they’re trying,” Rice said. Regardless, there wasn’t any clear-cut leader vocally, as Miller put together a quiet twelve points on just 4-of-5 shooting. Malick Kone, expected by many to be the odd man out of the freshmen, played very hard at both ends, totaling eight points and no nonchalant mistakes.

Rutgers returns to action Tuesday night at Miami. The Hurricanes should present a mighty test for the youth.

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By: Justin Sontupe
Big East Fans Staff Writer