This time the jacket came off in before the clock ticked off two minutes.
Rutgers (1-1) came to play, but Coach Mike Rice was frustrated. He wanted the team to play harder, to make the smart plays and force even more turnovers.
And Rutgers responded.
More after the jump...
Jonathan Mitchell rebounded from a poor performance against Princeton to score 15 points, including 3 out of 4 three point field goals. He was followed by fellow senior Mike Coburn with 14 and sophomore Dane Miller with 12.An all out team effort on offense, Rutgers shot 48.2% from the field and assisted on 14 of 27 made shots. Meanwhile, the defense was solid as well, holding a jump shooting Stags offense to only 29% shooting. Rutgers pressured their guards the entire night, and forced 12 turnovers.
The only real flaw for Rutgers tonight was free throw shooting, as they only went 6-13 from the line. They were also outrebounded 40-35. Rebounding is expected to be a problem for the team all year long.
Leading the Stags was guard Derek Needham with 14 points, but only shot 5-20 and had 5 turnovers.
So, while Mike Rice did throw his jacket to the bench early in the game, the team responded and he was still able to walk away with his first win as coach of the Scarlet Knights.