The Rutgers men’s basketball team defeated Rider 81-53 in its home opener due to a strong second half that sunk its opponents.
The Broncs would draw first blood with a three-pointer as the Scarlet Knights’ offense started slowly in the first half. Rutgers would take the lead soon after, but would struggle early on to extend its lead. Rider would get within two points several times, the last time with 4:53 left in the first half. Thereafter, Rutgers would outscore Rider 59-33, en route to a 28-point victory.
Transfer guard Tariq Francis would lead the way for the Knights, scoring 20 points on 6/10 field goals, 4/5 free throws, and 4/8 from beyond the arc.
Dylan Grant and Jamichael Davis also had standout performances, as Grant had 17 points and seven rebounds, and Davis had 15 points and six rebounds.
Rutgers’ shooting was generally good that day, as the Knights were 25 of 64 from the field, good for a field goal percentage of 39.1%, and 10 of 27 from three, good for a percentage of 37%.
Another area where the Knights performed well was the turnover battle. Rutgers forced the Broncs to double their turnovers, as they were stripped of the ball 14 times and had the ball taken away seven times. The Knights would score 18 points off these turnovers, while giving up eight points off their own turnovers.
Other areas where Rutgers dominated Rider included assists, steals and blocks. The Knights would accumulate 12 assists, eight steals and five blocks against the Broncs, who had four assists, four steals and one block.
One area where Rider would prove to be almost equal to Rutgers was points scored in the paint. The Knights scored 28 points in the paint, while the Broncs scored 26. They will need to improve here to compete in Big Ten play. Rebounding is another area they will have to improve on, as they only had one more rebound than Rider.
Rutgers will return to action at home against Maine on Monday, November 10. Kickoff for that game is scheduled for 6:30.