Rutgers Basketball suffers first loss of season to CCSU
Rutgers Basketball suffered its first loss of the season at the hands of Central Connecticut State 67-54 at Jersey Mike’s Arena.
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SEARCHING FOR OFFENSE
Outside of 19 points from Tariq Francis, not much went right for Rutgers’ offense as it shot 35 percent from the floor (21-for-58). The Scarlet Knights also had a tough time from beyond the arc, shooting 5-for-19.
Denis Badalau was second for the Scarlet Knights with 11 points on 3-for-8 shooting and recorded seven rebounds.
The first half saw Tariq Francis show off his shooting skills for the Scarlet Knights, but not much else, as he scored 14 of their 28 points on 6-for-9 from the floor, but they went into halftime down by four.
The second half did not open much better for Rutgers as it trailed by as much as 11 points before head coach Steve Pikiell went to a lineup that featured freshmen Lino Mark, Caden Powers, Chris Nwuli, Denis Badalau, and sophomore Bryce Dortch.
The lineup proved to be an energizer for the Scarlet Knights as they cut it to a 48-43 game with 11:48 remaining before Emmanuel Ogbole made it a three-point game with 9:08 to play.
That was as far as Rutgers could get though as the Blue Devils used a 7-0 run to take a 57-47 lead with 4:28 remaining.
PEAKS AND VALLEYS
The first half had its peaks and valleys for Rutgers as Central Connecticut State used a 13-0 run to open up its largest lead of the half, 26-17, with 7:42 remaining.
Rutgers battled back with an 8-0 run to make it 26-25 with 3:38 left in the half, but the Blue Devils finished on a 7-2 run to take a 32-28 lead into halftime.
Dylan Grant was second on the Scarlet Knights with six points.
RHOOPS PLAY OF THE DAY
UP NEXT
Rutgers will head to Las Vegas to face No. 20 Tennessee in the Players Era Festival. The game will be on Monday at 1 p.m. on TNT.
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