WHEN: Tuesday, Feb. 23, 7 p.m., WHERE: Prudential Center — Newark, TV: SNY, RADIO: WABC 770 AM, WSOU 89.5 FM, WOR 710 AM, WCTC 1450 AM
THE GAME: Rutgers (14-13, 4-10) makes the 29-mile drive up the New Jersey Turnpike to meet Big East rival Seton Hall (15-10, 6-8) Tuesday (Feb. 23) evening in a 7:00 p.m. tip-off at the 9,800-seat Prudential Center. The Scarlet Knights will be looking to return to the Big East win column while capturing their third league win in four outings. After an away victory at DePaul (Feb. 16), Rutgers will also be preparing to win back-to-back Big East road games for the first time since the 2000 season, when Rutgers defeated Boston College and Providence on their home courts. Seton Hall will be looking to win its sixth straight Big East home contest.
SETON HALL NOTES: Seton Hall saw their three-game win streak snapped at No. 8 West Virginia, 75-63, on Saturday. The Pirates fell down by 19 points only to pull to within three before succumbing to defeat. Eugene Harvey missed his second straight game to a bruised right wrist. Jeremy Hazell was limited with a lacerated right hand. For the season, Hazell leads the Pirates and ranks third in the conference with 21.4 points per game.
Pope leads the Big East with 11.0 rebounds per game in his first season in a Pirates uniform. Seton Hall is now 6-8 in the Big East and returns to the Prudential Center for the final two home games of the season.
RUTGERS' NOTES: Rutgers suffered its first home loss in a month with a 76-58 defeat to Connecticut this past Saturday afternoon. Sophomore guard Mike Rosario scored 14 points to pace the Scarlet Knights in the scoring column before a sellout crowd. Rutgers made just 35 percent (21-60) of its field goal attempts for the game, while UConn out-rebounded Rutgers by a 25-12 margin after the break. Rosario was joined in double figures by senior center Hamady Ndiaye and freshman wing Dane Miller. Ndiaye contributed 13 points and a game-high five blocks, while Miller added 11 points and a game-high eight rebounds. Ndiaye, who ranks second in the Big East in field goal percentage in league contests, made six-of-eight shots.
Miller was named the Rookie of the Week for a third straight week and Ndiaye was recognized on the Honor Roll for the third time this season by the Big East Conference on Monday. It marked the second consecutive Monday that Rutgers has had two players recognized in the weekly honors. Miller is the first Rutgers freshman to earn Rookie of the Week accolades in three consecutive weeks. It marks the 15th occasion in league history of a player being named Rookie of the Week for a third consecutive week or more. The last Big East player to achieve the feat was Carmelo Anthony, who earned the honor a record five straight weeks for Syracuse to close out the 2002-03 campaign. Among freshmen in league games, Miller ranks first in scoring (12.5), tied for first in steals (1.29), second in rebounding (6.6), third in assists (2.86), and fourth in blocks (0.71).
Ndiaye was also named to the Big East Honor Roll on Dec. 21 and Dec. 14. Ndiaye leads the Big East and ranks third nationally in blocks with 4.67 rejections-per-contest. He also ranks second among active NCAA players in career blocks with 339, which is just 16 rejections shy of the Rutgers career mark (355) set by All-American and NBA veteran Roy Hinson.
THE SERIES: Seton Hall and Rutgers will hook up on Tuesday for the 56th time in history and first of two meetings in 10 days this season. The Pirates lead the all-time series 31-24 and swept both games last season. Seton Hall has won three of their last four games with Rutgers. Each of the last six games in this series have either gone to overtime or been decided by five points or less.
LAST 10 GAMES (Tied, 5-5)
Date: Score - Location
Feb. 8, 2009: Seton Hall 65, Rutgers 60 - Piscataway, N.J.
Jan. 29, 2009: Seton Hall 70, Rutgers 67 - Newark, N.J.
March 9, 2008: Rutgers 64, Seton Hall 61 - Newark, N.J.
Jan. 30, 2008: Seton Hall 84, Rutgers 71 (ot) - Piscataway, N.J.
Jan. 27, 2007: Rutgers 74, Seton Hall 70 (2ot) - Piscataway, N.J.
Jan. 3, 2007: Seton Hall 77, Rutgers 72 - East Rutherford, N.J.
March 8, 2006: Rutgers 61, Seton Hall 48 - New York, N.Y.
Feb. 5, 2006: Seton Hall 73, Rutgers 67 - East Rutherford, N.J.
Jan. 7, 2006: Rutgers 82, Seton Hall 78 - Piscataway, N.J.
Feb. 8, 2005: Rutgers 62, Seton Hall 61(ot) - Piscataway, N.J.
SOURCE: RUTGERS AND SETON HALL
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