The Binghamton University men’s basketball team will have a tall task ahead of it tomorrow when the squad travels to New Brunswick, N.J., for a matchup against Rutgers.
The Bearcats (3-2) are currently riding a two-game winning streak, having downed Utah Valley University and Quinnipiac in the past week. The Scarlet Knights (5-2) come into the game having defeated Rider on Wednesday evening.
Sophomore guard Earl Pettis drained a pair of clutch 3-pointers with under a minute to play to help the Scarlet Knights to the 66-62 comeback victory. Rutgers hit a season-high 10 3-pointers, which is the most they have hit in nearly two years. The team improved to 2-0 on the road for the first time since since the 1991-92 season. Pettis finished the game with eight points.
Meanwhile, freshman guard Mike Rosario led the way in scoring for Rutgers, going eight for 15 from the floor, and finishing with 25 points. Fellow freshman Gregory Echenique had a career-high 15 points and team highs of seven rebounds and five blocks.
Rosario, the first McDonald’s All-American in Rutgers history, currently leads the team in scoring with 17.4 points per game. Echenique, a 6-foot-9-inch forward, was the nation’s 15th-rated overall prospect by Hoop Scoop and the Basketball Times. He leads the team in rebounds per game (9.6) and is second on the team in points per game (10.0). Junior center Hamady Ndiaye, a 6-foot-11-inch Senegal native, is a defensive force, notching 4.7 blocks per game. Rutgers is allowing roughly 63 points per game.
The Bearcats are certainly up to the challenge offensively, however, as they are averaging 67 points per game. Junior transfer D.J. Rivera leads the team in scoring with 19.6 points per game. Rivera is one of four Bearcats players to average in double-digit scoring per game. Senior Dwayne Jackson (12.8 points per game), and juniors Malik Alvin (12.5) and Emanuel “Tiki” Mayben (10.2) join Rivera on that list. Senior forward Reggie Fuller is right outside that bubble, scoring 9.6 points per game. Fuller leads the team in rebounds, pulling down 7.2 per game, while Mayben leads the team in assists, dishing out five per game.
The Knights certainly have size on their side, as five of their players who have seen playing time this season are 6 feet 7 inches or taller, with Ndiaye being the tallest at 6 feet 11 inches. In comparison, Binghamton has only two such players, freshman Kyrie Sutton (6 feet 9 inches) and senior Jaan Montgomery (6 feet 11 inches).
Tip-off is set for 2 p.m. at the Rutgers Athletic Center.