Stop me if you’ve heard this story before—the Rutgers basketball team plays tough against a better Big East opponent but falls short at the end. Groundhog Day, if you will. It happened again Sunday afternoon at the RAC when the Scarlet Knights lost to West Virginia 65-54 in a game heard on Good Time Oldies, 1450 WCTC and WCTCAM.com. Guard Mike Coburn led the way with 20 points on his Seniors’ Day at the RAC but it wasn’t enough as the Knights fall to 4-12 in league and 13-15 overall with just two regular season games remaining. And, so it goes for first-year head coach Mike Rice. Tough defense, a competitive mindset but just not enough talent to make the big plays.
Archive for February, 2011
Another tough, gutsy effort by the Rutgers basketball team but another example of ”not enough talent” in the rugged Big East. Once again, Mike Rice showed how far the program has come in his first season with the Scarlet Knights in a valiant effort at number-17 Syracuse in an 84-80 loss at the Carrier Dome Saturday afternoon as heard on Good Time Oldies, 1450 WCTC and WCTCAM.com. But it’s another game that shows that R-U still doesn’t have enough talent to win consistently in the toughest league in the nation. The Knights just couldn’t make enough plays in the closing minutes of regular and in the o-t to pull off its first ever win at the Dome. So, Rutgers falls to 4-10 in league and 13-13 overall.
13
Feb
11
Too many turnovers
The Rutgers men’s basketball team isn’t nearly good enough offensively to commit 18 turnovers and win a Big East game. And so it went Saturday night as the Scarlet Knights did just that and lost at home to arch-rival Seton Hall 69-64 in a game heard on Good Time Oldies, 1450 WCTC and WCTCAM.com, failing to complete a home-and-home season series sweep of their intra-state arch-rivals. Senior forward Jonathan Mitchell had another outstanding game, shooting 10-of-15 en route to a team-high 24 points but it wasn’t enough as the Knights fall to 4- 9 in league and 13-12 overall.
10
Feb
11
A signature win for Mike Rice
First-year Rutgers basketball coach Mike Rice now has what every fledgling program needs—a signature win. He got it Wednesday night at the RAC when the Scarlet Knights came from ten points down in the final three minutes to upset number-nine Villanova 77-76 in a Big East game heard on Good Time Oldies, 1450 WCTC and WCTCAM.com. AND he got it on what will be a memorable play seen over and over and over again—senior forward Jonathan Mitchell’s four-point play with eight-tenths-of-a-second left. Mitchell hit a three-point field goal to tie it and got fouled on the play. After a ‘Nova timeout, Mitchell calmly went to the line and hit a free throw to give the Knights the win. Mitchell finished with a team-leading 25 points. Rutgers improves to 4-8 in league and 13-11 overall…and after a series of close defeats, Rice and Company now have want they desparately needed for verification of a building program—an upset win over a Top-Ten team in the toughest league in the nation.
