Rutgers Faces Winless NJIT; Top Ranked UNC on Horizon

By Jeremy Kenter: SPM NJ Writer
Posted Thursday, December 13, 2007

NEWARK, N.J. – Rutgers travels north on the Turnpike tonight to meet a winless, in-state foe, the New Jersey Institute of Technology. The Scarlet Knights will be playing in the Prudential Center for the first time this season.

Rutgers (6-3) is undefeated in their six home games at the friendly confines of the Louis Brown Athletic Center, but have yet to find that winning touch on the road in three chances.

Rookie guard Corey Chandler scored a career-best 25 points on 10-of-20 shooting and helped trim a 17-point deficit to five this past Sunday, but the Knights were defeated by Nebraska 63-50 at the rowdy Devaney Center in Lincoln.

Defensively, the Knights maintained a strong presence, with center Hamady N’diaye’s five rejections and Chandler’s three steals keeping the game close. However, the Cornhuskers responded with a 15-2 run immediately following RU’s surge to put the game out of reach.

Even though the Knights led in rebounding, 36-34, especially on the offensive glass, 15-9, they had scoring and turnover problems. They finished 7-of-29 from the field in the first half en route to 35 percent for the game and committed 15 turnovers, seven by Chandler.

“The positives were that we did another good job defensively," head coach Fred Hill said. “The negative is that we didn’t shoot the ball very well, overall and from a three-point shooting perspective.”

In the meantime, "H", as referred to by Hill, enters tonight’s contest eighth in the nation in blocks per game (3.8) for a total of 34 in nine games, and is on pace to surpass his total of 49 from last season.

“It’s still not enough," said N'diaye, a sophomore and native of Dakar, Senegal. “I try to be No. 1. I’m still getting caught in fouls and everything, even though I have better discipline.”

Knowing that NJIT is 0-12 and a much easier opponent than No. 1 North Carolina this upcoming Sunday night, "H" is still not making any bold shot-blocking predictions.

“I don’t wanna say, because the last time I predicted [how many shots I would block], I was in foul trouble,” N’diaye half-kiddingly told reporters after Tuesday’s practice.

NJIT (0-12) is coming off a 62-53 road loss to Stony Brook, and will be looking to successfully host their inaugural game at the newly constructed Prudential Center.

The Highlanders are commanded by 6-foot-8 forward Nesho Milosevic’s 11.3 points and 8.3 boards per game. Milosevic will be another test for N’diaye as he matures into a complete package.

"We’re going to play our big guy the same way,” Hill said. “We’re not gonna double team.”

Even though Huskers’ center Aleks Maric scored 19 points against N’diaye and fifth-year senior captain Byron Joynes, both defenders held their ground, and limited Maric to only 11 points if you exclude four easy slam dunks.

“The Rock” will be filled with nearly 200 people cheering on Chandler, a Newark-born native who played for East Side High School, and many more from NJIT, both situated within a mile of the downtown arena.

Hill said that he will not overprotect his freshman superstar from the expected crowd.

“I want him [Corey] to go out and be aggressive in every game," Hill said. “I don’t want to curtail him at all.”

While the Highlanders might not bring as much firepower as No. 1 UNC this upcoming weekend, Hill will not overlook the matchup in front of him.

“If we do, we’ll lose, Hill said. “It’s that simple. They’re going to be juiced to play, they’re going to shoot the ball better [and] if we don’t play Rutgers basketball for 40 minutes and [do] look past them, we’re going to lose the game.”

Hill remained positive about overcoming the difficulties of succeeding away from Piscataway, which he believes can be accomplished through unity, among other factors, like defense and crashing the boards.

“There’s no right way to prepare,” Hill said about traveling and playing on the road. “It’s more mental. You need to be together. It’s that us against the world mentality that you've got to have.”