Scarlet Knights Travel North For Saturday Evening Contest at No. 2 UConn
Piscataway, N.J. - After hard-fought losses versus No. 1-ranked North Carolina and No. 3 Pittsburgh, Rutgers (9-5, 0-1) takes to the road to meet No. 2 Connecticut (11-1, 0-1) Saturday evening in a 7:00 p.m. tip-off at 10,167-seat Gampel Pavilion. The RAC and GP are separated by a 178-mile drive. The contest marks the 45th meeting between the Scarlet Knights and Huskies dating back to 1952, with UConn holding 31-13 advantage in victories. Rutgers will be looking to earn their first win over the Huskies in the Constitution State in 32 years, dating back to an 84-77 overtime win at the Hartford Civic Center on Jan 8. 1977.
The game will be televised live in the New York Metropolitan area on SNY, while also being available via the web at www.espn360.com. Don Criqui will serve as play-by-play announcer and John Celestand will provide analysis. On the radio, the contest will be broadcast live on the Rutgers Radio Network, WOR 710 AM in New York City and WCTC 1450 AM in New Brunswick. Chris Carlin will serve as play-by-play announcer and Dick Lloyd will provide commentary. WRSU 88.7 FM will also broadcast the game.
The match-up provides RU an opportunity to defeat a top five-ranked team for the first time in program history. The highest ranked opponent to fall to the Scarlet Knights was then No. 6 West?Virginia, in a 74-64 decision at the RAC on Feb. 27, 1982. Rutgers’ highest-ranked road win occurred last season, when it defeated then No. 13 Pittsburgh 77-64 in the Steel City on Jan. 26, 2008.
The meeting also completes an historic trifecta for the Scarlet Knights after the games against the Tar Heels and Panthers. No team is believed to have ever played the nation’s top three teams consecutively, particularly in a calendar week. A similar stretch belonged to Kansas in 1989, when the Jayhawks defeated No. 2 LSU 89-83 (Nov. 17), No. 1 UNLV 91-77 (Nov. 22) and No. 25 St. John’s 66-57 (Nov. 24). In 1995, Temple played the nation’s top three teams in a span of four straight games versus ranked foes. The Owls defeated No. 2 Villanova 62-56 (Dec. 13), lost to No. 12 Cincinnati 49-70 (Dec. 16), beat No. 1 Kansas in overtime 74-66 (Dec. 22), and lost at No. 3 Memphis 58-68 (Dec. 28).
Rutgers is coming off a 78-72 home loss to Pittsburgh Wednesday afternoon. The Garden State guards trio of Mike Rosario (Jersey City, N.J.), Anthony Farmer (Millville, N.J.) and Corey Chandler (Newark. N.J.) combined for 59 points in a game that featured 13 lead changes and five ties. Rosario, the current BIG EAST Rookie of the Week, scored 22 points, while Farmer and Chandler contributed 20 and 17, respectively. The Scarlet Knights, who committed a season-low eight turnovers, posted the highest points total against the Panthers this season
Rosario is averaging 17.8 points-per-game to lead the Scarlet Knights and all conference freshmen (sixth overall) in scoring. He is the league leader from the free throw line, with an impressive 89.1 percentage (41-46) mark, while also placing seventh overall in the BIG EAST in three-point field goals made (2.71). In the most recently released (Dec. 21) NCAA stat rankings, Rosario placed fourth in scoring and tied for third in free throw percentage among freshmen nationally. He was joined in the rankings by fellow rookie Gregory Echenique (Guatire, Venezuela), who ranks first in rebounding and second in blocks among freshmen nationally. In the BIG EAST, Echenique ranks sixth in field goal percentage (.597) and seventh in rebounding (9.1) overall.
Connecticut is coming off a 74-63 home loss to No. 12/9 Georgetown at the XL Center this past Monday night in Hartford. The Huskies fell behind 18-3 and were unable to recover. Senior guard A.J. Price led three UConn players in double figures with 16 points. On the season, five Huskies boast double digits, including senior forward Jeff Adrian and junior guard Jerome Dyson, who both average a club-best 14.5 points-per-game.
