MIKE RICE RETURNS TO PITTSBURGH; RU BEATS AUBURN

by RAY MERNAGH

PITTSBURGH - Rutgers started out so slow -- the Scarlet Knights missed their first 12 shots from the floor -- that coach Mike Rice let them know a thing or two at the first media timeout.

"He told us we we're soft," point guard James Beatty said before adding "I won't tell you exactly what words he used but he told us we were soft." Beatty's comment drew a laugh from the media.

But the truth is Rutgers isn't soft.

No Mike Rice coached team is soft and this one is getting tougher by the game although their coach would like them to finish stronger at the rim.

And even with their struggles finishing, RU handled Auburn 63-54 here in the first game of the Big East/SEC Invitational here at the Consol Energy Center in downtown Pittsburgh.

Auburn isn't a very good team, in fact they're kind of terrible, but Rice and his staff will be able to use this game to show their guys that they aren't the same old Rutgers.

They'll point to the rebounding margin they won by 13 (46-33) and the fact that when things got tight late after it looked like RU was going to blow the game open, they responded with enough positive plays to win comfortably.

"Coach Martelli (assistant Jim) has been harping on rebounding every day," said Rice, "almost to the point that I wanted to get out there and rebound." Dane Miller was very good for Rutgers and finished with 17 points and 10 boards (4 offensive) to go with 4 assists and 1 steal. Beatty was also big scoring 13 (3-5 from deep) while dishing out for 3 assists and not committing a turnover.

Sophomore big Austin Johnson also made a lot of positive plays for RU in the post.

"It wasn't pretty," said Rice, "but it's great to get a win."

The Scarlet Knights will get more than a few of those -- they're 6-2 after today -- with Rice at the helm.

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