Rutgers Basketball moves to 3-0 after defeating UMass Lowell 73-65
Despite playing three games in six days, Rutgers Basketball moved to 3-0 following a 73-65 win over UMass Lowell at Jersey Mike's Arena.
Cliff Omoruyi put on a show as he finished tying his career-high with 22 points on 8-17 shooting and pulled down 15 rebounds. The big man also secured a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds with 17 minutes to go in the second half.
Omoruyi also had a career-high first half with 15 points and nine rebounds as Rutgers went into the break up 34-21.
Derek Simpson tallied a career-high 16 points and went 10-10 from the free-throw line while Cam Spencer scored 15 points and went 8-8 from the charity stripe.
UMass Lowell (2-1) showed a lot of fight as it made it a six-point game with under a minute to go and was led by Abdoul Karim Coulibaly who had 18 points while Max Brooks had 17. However, Rutgers' defense was too much to overcome as it forced 16 turnovers and held the River Hawks to 22 percent from the three-point line.
There was some concern from the Rutgers faithful after Paul Mulcahy left the game in the first half clutching his left shoulder, the same shoulder he injured in the team's 75-35 opening win over Columbia. However, Mulcahy was seen during second-half warmups and appeared to be alright as he sat on the bench the rest of the way.
As a team, the Scarlet Knights shot 34 percent from the field and 19 percent from three but was assisted by its free-throw shooting as it shot 82 percent from the charity stripe.
RHoops Play of the Day: Cliff Omoruyi gets the rebound and slams it home against a couple of UMass Lowell defenders.
Rutgers will return to action on Friday in the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase when it takes on Temple at Mohegan Sun Arena in Uncasville, Connecticut at 5 p.m. (ET) on ESPNU.
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