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WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 27, 4 p.m., WHERE: Louis Brown Athletic Center — Piscataway, TV: ESPNU, RADIO: WOR 710 AM, WCTC 1450 AM

THE GAME: Rutgers (14-14, 4-11) returns home to the confines of the Louis Brown Athletic Center to host DePaul (8-19, 1-14) Saturday afternoon in a 4 p.m. tip-off. The Scarlet Knights will be preparing to return to the Big East win column while looking to improve their home record in the past month to 5-1. DePaul arrives "On the Banks" with a nine-game losing streak.

RUTGERS NOTES: Rutgers is coming off a 76-70 loss Tuesday night at Seton Hall. Sophomore guard Mike Rosario scored a team-high 17 points and Ndiaye and junior forward Jonathan Mitchell both had double-doubles. Ndiaye scored 12 points and pulled down a game-high 14 rebounds for his fifth double-double of the season. Mitchell posted 11 points and 13 boards for his second career double-double. Freshman wing Dane Miller had 16 points, including a highlight-reel put back slam dunk that was No. 6 on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10. The Scarlet Knights reduced an 18-point deficit to just four points in the final minutes but would get no closer.

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 (12.7), second in rebounding (6.7) and steals (1.2) and third in assists (2.80) and blocks (15).

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 4.6 rejections-per-contest. He also ranks second among active NCAA players in career blocks with 341, which is just 14 rejections shy of the Rutgers career mark (355) set by All-American and NBA veteran Roy Hinson. In conference games Ndiaye ranks second in field goal percentage (.604) and eighth in rebounding (8.3).

Rosario has 970 career points and, as such, is 30 points shy of becoming the 38th member of the 1,000 point club at Rutgers. He would become just the second Rutgers sophomore, joining two-time All-American Phil Sellers (1972-76), to reach the milestone.

DePAUL NOTES: DePaul, under the leadership of interim head coach Tracy Webster, is coming off a 74-69 loss at Cincinnati Wednesday evening. Junior big man Mac Koshwal averages a double-double for the Blue Demons, with 15.4 points and 10.1 rebounds-per-game.

THE SERIES: The contest will be the sixth meeting between Rutgers and DePaul on the hardwood, with the Scarlet Knights leading the series 3-2. The Scarlet Knights are 1-1 at the RAC versus the Blue Demons, including a 75-56 victory in the most recent home meeting last season. The Scarlet Knights shot 50.8 percent in that game and limited DePaul to a 34.5 performance from the field. Earlier this season, on Feb. 16 at Allstate Arena, Rutgers overcame a 17-point deficit and out-rebounded DePaul by a 43-25 margin to earn a 68-64 victory. Senior center Hamady Ndiaye shot a perfect six-of-six from the field en route to a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds

SOURCE: RUTGERS