Rutgers Basketball falls in season opener to Princeton Tigers
The Rutgers Scarlet Knights fell to Princeton 68-61 in the season opener at the Cure Auto Insurance Arena in Trenton. The Tigers move to 1-0 while the Scarlet Knights fall to 0-1.
It was a chaotic pace to start off, as Rutgers scored on their first possession but then allowed Princeton to rip off a 13-2 run, allowing five offensive rebounds in the process. From there, head coach Steve Pikiell opted to run with his bench, ultimately getting them back in the game.
From there, it was a back-and-forth affair for the rest of the first half. Matt Allocco starred for Princeton, draining a buzzer-beater for his 13th point on 6-of-7 shooting. Cliff Omoruyi and Antwone Woolfolk led the way for the Scarlet Knights with six points apiece. Allocco finished with a game-high 21 points and nine rebounds. Xaivian Lee also scored 16 points, and Caden Pierce only had 8 points but a game-high 15 rebounds.
Pikiell played with the lineups a ton in this matchup, as every player that suited up played at least 13 minutes.
The second half was much of the same, as Rutgers and Princeton couldn’t quite find a consistent rhythm on offense or defense. Every time Rutgers would draw within a score, Princeton would get two buckets in a row to take the scarlet-dominated crowd out of the building. The Scarlet Knights just could not string together enough stops to get themselves back in the game.
Only three Scarlet Knights notched double-digit points, as Noah Fernandes had 10 on 3-of-10 shooting from the floor, Cliff Omoruyi had 12 and 7 rebounds, and Antwone Woolfolk had 10 points on 5-of-6 shooting in one of his best performances as a Scarlet Knight.
Otherwise, it was a rough shooting night overall. The Scarlet Knights shot 40% from the floor as a team and only 29% from behind the line. Jamichael Davis shot only 2-of-10 from the floor, Aundre Hyatt shot 0-of-5, and Derek Simpson shot 1-of-5.
On the plus side, nearly everyone contributed as Rutgers had 29 bench points to Princeton’s 4, along with outscoring the Tigers in the fast break 11-0. The Scarlet Knights were outrebounded 39-35.
Rutgers will be back in action on Friday for their home opener against Boston University.
--------------------------------------------------------------
• Subscribe to our YouTube Channel