Rutgers, Seton Hall Open With Wins
by Ray Floriani
NEWARK, NJ – The season is here. Rutgers opened up at home on Friday, while Seton Hall unveiled a new home on Sunday. Both the Hall and Rutgers survived challenges from mid majors. But if this young season has told us anything, it’s that anything can happen.
Rutgers opened the Blue Ribbon Challenge with a 70-64 victory over Tennessee Tech at the Rutgers Athletic Center on Friday. Rutgers enjoyed a first half double-digit lead, lost it in the second, then regrouped and made the key plays at crunch time. Suffice to say this might have been the type game Rutgers lost a year ago. With the returning players a year older and indoctrinated into coach Fred Hill’s system and talented newcomers on board, the outcome weighed in the Scarlet Knights’ favor.
The guards were impressive. Rutgers’ relatively young backcourt gave a respectable performance. The best of the group was freshman Corey Chandler. The Newark (NJ) product had seven points in the first two minutes and finished with 16. He showed no signs of freshman jitters and literally played like a seasoned veteran.
Classmate Mike Coburn of prep power Mount Vernon entered the game off the bench. On his initial possession Coburn penetrated and then hit a cutting Chandler with a beautiful pass that resulted in a textbook play layup. Overall, though, Coburn struggled, going 2-4 in 12 minutes.
“That will happen with freshmen,” Hill said. “Tonight Mike (Coburn) struggled a bit another night it will be someone else. Mike will bounce back tomorrow. He’s been working hard and will contribute for us.”
Anthony Farmer struggled from the field (1 of 6) but did pull down 6 rebounds.
Hill was pleased with the collective guard defense on Tech’s Anthony Fisher. The stat sheet shows Fisher, Tech’s senior point guard and one of the Ohio Valley Conference’s best players, pacing his team with 15 points. But he shot 5-11 and 0-4 from three. “He got loose once or twice in transition,” Rutgers assistant Darren Savino said, “but overall we made him work hard for everything.” Farmer started defensively on Fisher then virtually every Rutgers guard got a turn as Hill wanted fresh bodies on Fisher.
The work of J.R. Inman and Byron Joynes caught attention. Inman, a 6’9″ junior, led all scorers with 18 points. He knocked down the perimeter shots but also showed a nice explosiveness to the basket. Hill noted that Inman’s rigorous off season regimen has increased his stamina and quickness. Inman also got in foul trouble the first half, but came out in the second half just as hard, not showing any tentativeness due to foul trouble.
A 6’9″ senior, Joynes grabbed a game-high 11 boards, 5 of them offensive. He also drew a late charge that fouled Tech’s Fisher out of the contest in the waning minutes. Overall, Hill was pleased with Joynes’ 27 minutes.
As part of the challenge Rutgers visits Florida on a November 17 trip. On December 20, North Carolina travels to the RAC, meaning Hill’s club will have faced the defending national champion and pre-season number one team prior to conference play.
Tech coach Mike Sutton is impressed with the job Hill is doing. “We played Kansas State last year and saw the tape of Rutgers game with them,” Sutton said. “In one year Fred (Hill) has done a great job brining talent in and getting them to play so well. He’s in a tough league, it’s not easy to play catch up in the Big East.”
Sutton also applauds the Big East’s decision to include all 16 teams in the conference tournament. “It’s a great move,” Sutton said. “The (Big East) tournament is a happening, why exclude a few teams? And watch a number 16 will beat a number one some year. Guaranteed.”
Pirates Open New Arena in Style
The first basketball game at the newly minted Prudential Center was one to remember. Seton Hall outlasted Monmouth 89-81 in an overtime thriller.
One of the highlights of the win for the Hall was the play of Eugene Harvey. The sophomore sensation tied a career high with 27 points and hit a succession of big shots down the stretch. In fact Harvey made the play that forced overtime. Monmouth led by two with eight seconds left as the Hall inbounded in the frontcourt. Harvey penetrated, drew a block and canned two free throws to force the extra session.
“We had our defense set up and did everything we wanted,” Monmouth coach Dave Calloway said. “Unfortunately we got there a split second late (to stop Harvey). You need to be perfect to stop him in that situation.”
Paul Gause came off the bench and infused his normal energy on the contest. Gause played 32 minutes, scoring eight points with five rebounds and a superlative eight steals. Seton Hall created a lot of their offense from defense, and a good part of it was sparked by Gause.
Big men were not a factor. “We decided to go small early,” Seton Hall coach Bobby Gonzalez said. “Monmouth can be tough to guard so we made a decision and it paid off.” A key for the Hall is getting 6’6″ freshman Michael Glover eligible.” We’re just waiting for the ok from the (NCAA) clearinghouse,” noted Gonzalez.
It’s a win. Say what you want about Monmouth being picked in the Northeast Conference’s second division yet scaring the life out of their in-state Big East opponents. The bottom line is Seton Hall won. “I’d rather win ugly than lose pretty,” said Gonzalez.
Ohio State, USC, Kentucky and Georgia Tech all had what they believed were very winnable games and came out on the short end.
“They (Monmouth) are not bad,” Gonzalez said. “And their kid (Jhamar) Youngblood (who went for 27 points) could be a significant player at the Atlantic Ten level.”
Seton Hall just hung on to force overtime, then asserted themselves by going on a 7-0 run to begin OT and never looked back.
Brian Laing had the type performance we’ve taken for granted from him. The senior swingman had an 18-point, 10-rebound outing. Laing enjoyed playing in the new arena. “I like it,” he said. “The crowd gets into it, there’s a good atmosphere. It’s just a little different shooting here. At practice (on campus) the walls are a lot closer. Here you have a different background but we’ll get used to it.”
Both teams struggled shooting the ball early. Midway through the first half Seton Hall was 3 of 19 and Monmouth 2 of 12. The Hall finished at 42 percent while the visiting Hawks were 48 percent.
How did Monmouth come back from a 13-point halftime deficit? First, the Hall had trouble matching up with the aforementioned Youngblood. Monmouth also got it to a slower tempo and exploited the Pirates on several backdoor cuts. They also found the range, hitting 60 percent from the field in the second half.
Notes
- Ok, I didn’t think we needed an arena in Newark, now I love it. Actually, Continental Airlines Arena is about 1.5 miles from home. The Prudential Center, aka “The Rock”, is only about seven, but the acid test will be when game nights are on weekdays. How will traffic going to the arena be? On the first game day, a Sunday, it was a breeze.
The lighting is good, reminding me of Philly’s Wachovia Center. Seating is comfortable with good views. The hallways are extremely spacious, affording fan comfort. Hungry? Choose from the standard dogs and pretzels or try the following: there are stands for Mrs. Fields cookies, Boardwalk (like Jersey Shore) Sausage, sushi, Famiglia Pizza and Beers of Newark. There are also several lounges such as Belvedere Ice Lounge, which had patrons sipping brews while watching NFL pre game shows before the 1 P.M. tip-off. Finally, one that writing colleague George Rodecker will love: there is a cigar bar with a gentleman hand-rolling churchills. The press area is quickly accessible and very spacious. Overall the atmosphere seems more energized than the Hall’s last locale. - Gonzalez had a wealth of praise for official Ed Corbett. (That’s no misprint.) Harvey stole the ball when Monmouth inbounded with seconds to go in regulation and the score tied. Harvey tried to call time out, but was airborn and landed out of bounds. As a result Corbett did not grant the “TO”. Seton Hall had no time outs remaining. After the play Corbett explained his ruling to Harvey. “I think it’s great,” Gonzalez said, “when officials talk to the kids and educate them.”
- Speaking of officials, Dave Calloway was mistakenly introduced at the post-game conference as Brian O’Connell. O’Connell was the referee with Corbett and Ray Perone on the crew.
On The Baseline
Give the Seton Hall cheerleaders credit for pointing out something about the student section that escaped yours truly. Discussing the new arena, Liz Pantaleo, a senior from Staten Island, NY, noted, “I like it better than Continental (Arena) because there is a student section on both sides, which creates a better atmosphere.” Classmate Courtney Senfert of Brick, NJ, added, “you just get a better feeling of crowd involvement and spirit here.”
