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WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 2, 7:30 p.m., WHERE: Rutgers Athletic Center, TV: MSG, RADIO: WOR 710 AM, WCTC 1450 AM
THE GAME: Rutgers (10-11, 1-8) will be preparing to win back-to-back Big East games when it hosts St. John's (12-8, 2-6) Tuesday evening in a 7:30 p.m. tip-off at the Louis Brown Athletic Center. The Red Storm will be looking to return to the win column after three consecutive losses to nationally-ranked foes. The contest signals "Hero Night" at the RAC. All military, firefighters, police and first responders are able to purchase $5.00 promenade tickets to the game with identification.
THE SERIES: Tuesday evening's contest marks the 35th meeting between the schools dating back to 1974 with the Red Storm holding a 23-11 advantage in victories. The Scarlet Knights are 4-6 at home and 4-12 in Big East regular season play versus St. John's. Rutgers dropped a 70-59 decision to STJ at Madison Square Garden last season in the most recent meeting. The Scarlet Knights trailed by three with less than three minutes to play, but St. John's scored the contest's final nine points. Mike Rosario scored 16 points to pace Rutgers in the scoring column.
RUTGERS NOTES: Rutgers is coming off a 74-73 win over Notre Dame this past Saturday evening at the RAC. Rosario scored a game-high 24 points to lead all five Rutgers starters in double figures. Senior center Hamady Ndiaye issued six, second-half blocks to lift the Scarlet Knights to victory before a national television audience on ESPN2. Ndiaye played a game-high 38 minutes and helped limit Luke Harangody to 8-of-26 shooting and rejected two of the two-time All-American's shots in the final minute. Rutgers freshman wing Dane Miller, the Big East's leading frosh scorer, posted his first career-double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Junior forward Jonathan Mitchell added 12 points, while junior point guard James Beatty contributed 10. Beatty also had a career-high nine boards as the Scarlet Knights out-rebounded the Irish by a 46-37 margin.
Rosario was named to the Big East Conference Honor Roll on Monday after averaging 20.0 points and 6.0 rebounds, while shooting 53.8 percent from the field and 85.7 percent from the charity stripe, to help the Scarlet Knights to a 1-1 week and their initial league victory. Ndiaye leads the Big East and is third nationally in blocks with an average of 4.71 rejections-per-game. As of Feb. 1, he had accumulated more blocks this season than 10 teams in the Conference.
ST. JOHN'S NOTES: St. John's suffered a 63-53 loss at Pittsburgh on Thursday night. The Panthers out-scored the Red Storm 39-25 after the break as St. John's shot just 26.7 percent in the second half. Junior D.J. Kennedy paces the Red Storm in the scoring column with 15.0 points-per-game.
SOURCE: RUTGERS
