Rivalry in Central New Jersey
There are so many parallels and so many storylines that will make this match up between the Rutgers Scarlet Knights and the No. 3 Villanova Wildcats one to watch. Add this to the matchup being of two teams off to their best starts in years, and you have a potential for a classic.
The Scarlet Knights come in with an 11-3 record, their best start since the 1982-83 season. The reason for success largely rests on the narrow shoulders of the Big East’s leading scorer, Quincy Douby. The 6-3, 175-pound guard from Brooklyn has failed to score 20 points or more only once this season, when he was “held”, for lack of a better word, to 18 points in a 92-50 dismantling of Maryland Eastern Shore. Douby’s frame and game have drawn comparisons to former Villanova All-American guard Kerry Kittles. The smooth stroke and the ability to slash to the basket is all too familiar. Douby enters the game scorching opponents for 23.8 points a game.
Rutgers also has gotten surprising play from two talented freshmen in 6-9 J.R. Inman, and ultra poised 6-0 point guard Anthony Farmer. Inman, a New Jersey First Team All-State selection, had 14 points and a career-high five blocks in a win over Seton Hall. Farmer, who played at South Jersey powerhouse St. Augustine, also established a career-high with 17 points, while serving three assists and doing a sound defensive job to help lock up Seton Hall’s leading scorer Donald Copeland.
Fred Hill, Rutgers’ new assistant coach, factors into the equation quite nicely, being that he served as an assistant for Villanova during his previous 4 years. Hill, a New Jersey native, played a major role in the recruitment of the 2002 and 2003 classes that helped Villanova reach the Sweet 16 of the NCAA tournament. Today, he will sit opposite his old recruits and coaching staff wearing the black and red of the Scarlet Knights.
Villanova comes into the game slightly wounded from a lost to West Virginia on Sunday. Don’t expect the Wildcats to be licking their wounds too long. Before Sunday, Villanova was off to their best start since the 1995-96 season when Kittles, Jason Lawson, and Alvin Williams were running the motion offense.
Jay Wright and the boys come in with a high-powered attacked led by tenacious guards Allan Ray, Randy Foye, Kyle Lowry, and Mike Nardi. Ray and Foye are the most heralded of the bunch. Ray, a gifted outside shooter, comes in dropping 19.4 points per game. Foye, who has been touted by some as one of the top five players in the country, is knocking down 21 pts a game. Lowry, the sophomore, tallied 10 assists against West Virginia, while Nardi erupted for a season-high 23 pts on 7-8 shooting.
Villanova takes the court with their eyes looking towards a national championship. Rutgers looks to climb its way into the upper echelon of the Big East. Although this seems like simply another Big East battle, it is far from that. Both schools annually battle for the surplus of talent that oozes out of the Garden State. Nardi and Foye, both Jersey natives, look to come and perform well in front of their home family and friends. It will be Foye’s last trip as a Wildcat to the RAC. Rutgers will look to dispose of the Wildcats as they did Seton Hall, further illustrating to future prospects that they are on the rise.
The Wildcat guards may have a tough time slowing down Douby, who has been on a roll all season. The “I Dou-by-lieve” t-shirts will be in full effect. The raucous crowd, full of Scarlet Knight die-hards, will keep Piscataway rocking.
Blowout, close game or upset, you can bet on a tremendous atmosphere as Villanova comes to Piscataway, New Jersey to lock horns with Rutgers. Look forward to a sea of red and white with sprinkles of blue scattered around the arena. Expect loud insults, and passion to be exuded. Expect all the Jersey and Philly basketball gurus to be packed into the arena to watch the boys go at it.
For those who don’t know, I am a Piscataway native and went to Piscataway High about five minutes away from the RAC. As a player at Villanova, I would loathe coming home to play in my hometown, as the fans would boo me every time I touched the ball for turning my back on my hometown university. It was tremendous pressure, but it was an honor. If they booed me, it was because they respected me, respected my game and despised me for not bringing my talents to Rutgers.
Today, I, the “traitor”, as the Rutgers fans labeled me, will sit in the stands, with no pressure, and watch the crazy “P-way” (as Piscataway natives refer to it) fans boo until their lungs fall out. The sound that I so much despised when I was playing will now be music to my ears. The loud boos, the passionate fans only add to one of the best basketball atmospheres in the conference. The Big East Conference, Villanova vs. Rutgers, the RAC, Piscataway, New Jersey. You’ve got to love it!
