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Princeton University Athletics
Saturday, December 9
Jadwin Gymnasium
4 p.m.
Princeton University
47
vs
53
Rutgers
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F
/ Men's Basketball
F/C
/ Men's Basketball
Rutgers Uses Nearly Perfect First Half To Run By Princeton, 53-47
December 09, 2006 | Men's Basketball
The Rutgers men's basketball team was almost perfect in the first half Saturday at Jadwin Gym against Princeton. The Tigers, despite their best second-half efforts, could never recover.
The Scarlet Knights made 14 of their 16 first-half shots, including their final nine on the way to a 31-19 halftime lead, and held the Tigers at bay for most of the second half on the way to a 53-47 victory before 4,415 in the 113th meeting of the New Jersey rivals.
Rutgers (4-5), which won its third straight, led 12-2 eight minutes into the game and then made its final nine shots of the half after that, including Anthony Farmer's jumper in the lane with 25 seconds left that made it 31-19.
Princeton (6-3), which made just one field goal in the game's first 11 minutes, cut its deficit to five points at 50-45 with 50 seconds left in the game. But the Scarlet Knights would then get offensive rebounds on two missed free throws after that to keeping the Tigers from gaining possession until it was too late.
"You have to give Rutgers credit; they came in here and had all five guys play well for them, especially in the first half," said Joe Scott, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edwar G. Green '40 Head Coach of Men's Basketball at Princeton. "I'm more concerned about how we are not playing well in the first halves of games. It's happened too often this year."
The Tigers, led by Edwin Buffmire's career-high 12 points off the bench, fell behind by as many as 16 points eight minutes into the second half before making a comeback, scoring eight straight points after that to cut their deficit to 41-33 on a Michael Strittmatter's three-pointer with 10:15 left. But Rutgers, who had 12 second-chance points in the game, never led by fewer than six points until the final five seconds.
Princeton missed all eight of its first-half three-point attempts and finished the game 5 for 21 (24%) from behind the arc.
"We need to come out and make a few of those shots right away," said Luke Owings, who finally broke Princeton's string of missed three-pointers with his team's first of the game 1:35 into the second half. "You can't take anything away from Rutgers making all those shots in the first half, but we need to do a better job of making it harder for them to do it."
J.R. Inman led the Scarlet Knights with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Jaron Griffin added 11 points. Rutgers still shot 58% for the game (19 for 33) despite making just five of 17 second-half shots.
Rutgers defeated Princeton for the second straight season and the for the seventh time in the last eight meetings. The Tigers were outrebounded 30-17.
Princeton's leading scorer, junior Kyle Koncz, was held scoreless for the second straight game, shooting 0 for 4 from the field in 15 minutes.
The Tigers host Marshall next Saturday at Jadwin Gym at 4 p.m.
NOTES
* Rutgers was on pace to break both its team record for field goal percentage in a game (69.6%) and the Jadwin Gym record for field goal percentage in a game (74.5%) before falling off the pace late in the game. The Scarlet Knights made 18 of their first 24 shots before missing eight of their last nine attempts from the field.
* Every Princeton player who played in the game played at least 15 minutes. Princeton's bench players played 80 minutes; its starters 120.
* Buffmire became the sixth Princeton player to lead the Tigers in scoring in a game this year.
The Scarlet Knights made 14 of their 16 first-half shots, including their final nine on the way to a 31-19 halftime lead, and held the Tigers at bay for most of the second half on the way to a 53-47 victory before 4,415 in the 113th meeting of the New Jersey rivals.
Rutgers (4-5), which won its third straight, led 12-2 eight minutes into the game and then made its final nine shots of the half after that, including Anthony Farmer's jumper in the lane with 25 seconds left that made it 31-19.
Princeton (6-3), which made just one field goal in the game's first 11 minutes, cut its deficit to five points at 50-45 with 50 seconds left in the game. But the Scarlet Knights would then get offensive rebounds on two missed free throws after that to keeping the Tigers from gaining possession until it was too late.
"You have to give Rutgers credit; they came in here and had all five guys play well for them, especially in the first half," said Joe Scott, the Franklin C. Cappon-Edwar G. Green '40 Head Coach of Men's Basketball at Princeton. "I'm more concerned about how we are not playing well in the first halves of games. It's happened too often this year."
The Tigers, led by Edwin Buffmire's career-high 12 points off the bench, fell behind by as many as 16 points eight minutes into the second half before making a comeback, scoring eight straight points after that to cut their deficit to 41-33 on a Michael Strittmatter's three-pointer with 10:15 left. But Rutgers, who had 12 second-chance points in the game, never led by fewer than six points until the final five seconds.
Princeton missed all eight of its first-half three-point attempts and finished the game 5 for 21 (24%) from behind the arc.
"We need to come out and make a few of those shots right away," said Luke Owings, who finally broke Princeton's string of missed three-pointers with his team's first of the game 1:35 into the second half. "You can't take anything away from Rutgers making all those shots in the first half, but we need to do a better job of making it harder for them to do it."
J.R. Inman led the Scarlet Knights with 12 points and 13 rebounds, while Jaron Griffin added 11 points. Rutgers still shot 58% for the game (19 for 33) despite making just five of 17 second-half shots.
Rutgers defeated Princeton for the second straight season and the for the seventh time in the last eight meetings. The Tigers were outrebounded 30-17.
Princeton's leading scorer, junior Kyle Koncz, was held scoreless for the second straight game, shooting 0 for 4 from the field in 15 minutes.
The Tigers host Marshall next Saturday at Jadwin Gym at 4 p.m.
NOTES
* Rutgers was on pace to break both its team record for field goal percentage in a game (69.6%) and the Jadwin Gym record for field goal percentage in a game (74.5%) before falling off the pace late in the game. The Scarlet Knights made 18 of their first 24 shots before missing eight of their last nine attempts from the field.
* Every Princeton player who played in the game played at least 15 minutes. Princeton's bench players played 80 minutes; its starters 120.
* Buffmire became the sixth Princeton player to lead the Tigers in scoring in a game this year.
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