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.
Dream finish, nice victory…now, this question: Can RU handle success? And, despite perimeter lapses; will this recent hot shooting become habit?