RUTGERS MEN FALL TO 1-16 IN BIG EAST

March 4, 2009


OK, so by now it is 10 PM on Tuesday night. Cincinnati has lost to South Florida, Georgetown has lost to St. John's and they go to the half at the Carrier Dome with Rutgers taking a 20-19 lead into the locker room over Syracuse. Could it just be one of those nights?

Well, not entirely, while the Scarlet Knights remained amazing consistent(ly bad) in the second half, scoring just another 20, Syracuse found their footing and put up 51 as they bomb RU, 70-40, sending the Knights to their 16th Big East loss in 17 games.

The Orange Breaks Rut (Syracuse Post-Standard) early in the second half, feeding Arinze Onuaku the ball inside and embarking on a 24-8 run immediately after intermission in the first nine minutes to take control of the game and cruised the rest of the way over Rutgers.

It was showtime early and often for SU in the second half and Paul Harris led the way with 18 points and several high flying antics. Jonny Flynn added 10 assists, but also committed seven of the 20 Orange turnovers in the sloppy contest. With chants of 'Krist-of, Krist-of' (Post-Standard) echoing through the Dome, SU's lone scholarship senior Kristof Ongenaet added 10 points and six rebounds, playing 25 minutes, in his final SU home game. SU walk-ons Juston Thomas and Jake Presutti also got extended time in the rout, playing over three minutes and the seniors gave the crowd a reason to sheer as Thomas scored four points and Presutti drained an open three.

Syracuse will close the regular season in Milwaukee when they take on Marquette on Saturday before hoping to make another run in the Big East Tournament (tickets) next week at Madison Square Garden, where they should have plenty of fans urging them to make a run.

Rutgers will end their regular season with a home game with South Florida on Saturday. The Scarlet Knights are just 1-16 in the Big East and a season that had some hope back in October has gone horribly wrong under Fred Hill. In his third season, Hill finally gets to see the Big East Tournament because for the first time since the league exapnded to 16 teams all 16 are invited.

Against SU, freshman Mike Rosario scored 16 points, but was just 6-21 from the field in doing so. As a team RU shot a combined 15-59 as a team from the field, had 19 turnovers to just 8 assists and looked completely outclassed in the second half...in other words...just another night for Rutgers...