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BY MATT SUGAM
NEWJERSEYNEWSROOM.COM
PISCATAWAY – Throughout Rutgers' up and down season where they’ve showed they can beat anyone in the country while also notching some head-scratching losses, Mike Rice knows the one thing missing from his young team is consistency.
And no one’s been more inconsistent than Dane Miller. One night the junior wing looks like one of the top players in the Big East, but the next night he’ll disappear.
It seems Miller just needs to get involved early, bringing energy as he provides a spark for his team. And that’s exactly what he did tonight en route to Rutgers 61-54 win over Cincinnati.
On Rutger's first possession, he grabbed a rebound and found Gilvydas Biruta under the basket. The next possession he’d have a nice up and under layup in transition. He’d follow it up the next possession with a nifty pass to Derrick Randall on a fast break bucket.
Just like that, Miller had set the tone.
“He gives the young guys confidence when he does that,” Rice said. “Whether it’s rebounding, loose balls, toughness plays, finishing in traffic – he gives our young guys confidence When he’s engaged like that and finishing through contact at the top of his jumps it helps.”
Said Miller: “It was big for me basically to have me stay aggressive — just to have everybody involved. As a team, show them I’m ready to play. Let’s get the win. Let’s have a lot of fun.”
For whatever reason, Miller’s (10 points, 12 rebounds and four assists) energy didn’t seem to get Eli Carter going. Although Carter was 1-of-6 from the field with two points in first half, his porous play didn’t seem to affect the up-and-coming star.
“He didn’t have bad body language at halftime,” Rice said. “He was speaking up.”
And in the second half, Carter let his play do all the talking.
The freshman found his stroke and displayed why he’s one of the best young scorers in the Big East. Going 5-of-6 from the field in the second half, Carter would knock down four three-pointers on his way to 17 points.
“Very poised. Very composed tonight,” Rice said. ”Against DePaul I think when things go wrong his first reaction is to dribble and make something happen. In the Big East it’s difficult because there’s really good teams and really good coaches. When he got shots it was in the flow of our offense.”
And so, Rutgers played a complete game, bouncing back from an embarrassing loss and continuing their rollercoaster of a season.
“We have to start to be more composed. We have to have more of a purpose. We have to be more consistent, so I’m going to be demanding as hell on Monday,” Rice said. ”I hope they’re going to be happy. They’re not going to want to have that level of demand placed on them, but they have to. They have to embrace that.”
For more Rutgers basketball coverage, follow Matt Sugam on Twitter @MattSugam and on Facebook
