The Scarlet Knights showed up late for the game.
Or at least that's how it felt.
But, after being down 6 at half, they rallied.
Find out how after the jump...
The first half was ugly, doze worthy basketball. Marist threw a 2-3 zone at Rutgers, and zone pressed them as well, trying to slow their offense. While Gylvidas Biruta was able to keep his team in the game, the rest of the shots were falling. And the less frequently the shots fell, the more RU's defense began to sag.Then halftime came. According to Jonathan Mitchell, Mike Rice didn't scream or yell. He didn't stomp. He sat. He told the Knights to play come defense.
And RU did. They held Marist to 20% shooting in the second half, and began to hit shots of their own. Dane Miller finally broke double digits and had a pretty put back dunk. Mike Poole was able to slash into the zone and find Biruta open for a dunk.
And Mitchell hit two consecutive threes from the corner. The dagger.
While the passes weren't crisp int he first half, they became sharp in the second. Rutgers ran away with the game. The Knights are 5-0 at home and 5-2 overall.
RU travels to Pittsburgh to take on Auburn next in a neutral court match-up.