Jerome! Seagears Steals the Show

For most of the second half against Yale, Jerome Seagears sat the bench.

Eddie Jordan didn't like what he saw from Seagears both offensively and defensively.  And though Jerome made the key steal that lead to a J.J. Moore three in that game, Jordan made it clear he wasn't happy.  Therefore, Seagears decided to take over the game against the Golden Griffins tonight.

Seagers did everything.  He scored 15 points.  He dished out 9 assists.  He held Billy Baron to 2 of 11 shooting in the second half.  Jerome showed why he was ranked so high coming out of high school.  He was the key cog in a game where the rest of the team didn't shoot well.

In fact, in the first half, it seemed Rutgers vaunted offense was stymied by Canisius's zone.  They passed around the perimeter too much.  And even when they found an open shot, it seemed there was a lid on the hoop.  No one could get it going for Rutgers.  But despite Canisius shooting shot 48% to Rutgers' 32% in that half, they couldn't pull away.  They only lead Rutgers by 2.

In the second half, Rutgers turned it on.  Both Wally Judge and Kadeem Jack recorded double doubles.  And thought he didn't put up major points, Jack's 13 really become important when he needed to take over.  Still Rutgers took forever to really pull way.  They would go up 8 and the Griffins would whittle it down to four.  Up 6, back down to 2.  But D'Von Campbell--who's been a bright surprise all season--hit a three (and scored ten points) to put Rutgers up 9 with about 6:30 to play, and the Knight never looked back.

Now they play a stalwart Drexel team for a chance to go to MSG.  Drexel beat Elon in the first game tonight, hitting some clutch shots late.

Rutgers needs to keep doing what it's doing:  defend, rebound and push the tempo.  They can't let Drexel's physicality get to them.  And with Myles Mack on the bench for a lot of the second half, he's going to need to carry the load tomorrow.

Other Thoughts:

-Kudos to Drew Robinson for breaking out the Pearl Jam on the scoreboard TWICE in the second half.  The scoreboard has really changed the gameday experience for the better.

-Home Game number 3 for Eddie Jordan, sweater number 3 as well.

-There's a guy in 113 who is really, REALLY mad the band doesn't play as much as they used to.  So much so, he decided to scream about it while J.J. Moore shot free throws.  The entire section shushed the guy.

-Malick Kone continued to bring energy off the bench.  While he only scored 2 points, he still grabbed 7 rebounds.

-The student section was empty tonight, and that's a disappointment.  Tomorrow's game is the biggest of a young season, as Drexel has already pushed UCLA for all they had.  A loud crowd might rattle them, but that comes from the students.  They need to show up.