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Four-Point Play Gives Rutgers Marquee Win Over 'Nova

It certainly was nothing like the pandemonium that occured after the Rutgers football team defeated Louisville in 2006, but as the buzzer sounded the Rutgers student section celebrated on the court. This was the Scarlet Knights first win over a ranked team since February 14, 2010 when they defeated then No. 7 Georgetown at home.

The Rutgers Men’s Basketball team was due for a victory like this. In recent games, the Scarlet Knights had fallen just short of defeating No. 2 Pittsburgh and No. 9/8 Notre Dame. Last night, Jonathan Mitchell and his teammates would not be denied.

With the Rutgers fans at the RAC in a frenzy and the Knights trailing by three, Mitchell nailed a three pointer and got fouled with less than a second remaining on the clock. After Villanova called a timeout, Mitchell hit the tiebreaking free throw to give Rutgers the lead and the win. New Jersey native, Corey Fisher committed the foul.

Mitchell finished the game with a career high 25 points. His previous high was 24 just one game prior against Notre Dame.

The win broke a four game losing streak for Rutgers and improved their season record to 13-11 overall and 4-8 in the Big East.

With just under three minutes remaining in the game, Villanova held a 70-60 lead. Rutgers used a tough-it-out defense and some clutch shooting to get back in the game. This was a Mike Rice signature win if I’ve ever seen one. The Scarlet Knights head coach is known to have his teams play tough defense and step up to the challenge when playing higher ranked teams.

Senior point guard James Beatty finished with 15 points, including 5-of-9 from behind the arc. 12 of his 15 points came in the final four minutes of the game.

Dane Miller added 12 points while Mike Coburn tied a career high by dishing out eight assists.

The Villanova Wildcats shot the ball well, finishing the game 55.8 percent from the field and 50 percent from three point range but the Scarlet Knights defense got stops when it needed them most.

It certainly was nothing like the pandemonium that occurred after the Rutgers football team defeated Louisville in 2006, but as the buzzer sounded the Rutgers student section celebrated on the court. This was the Scarlet Knights first win over a ranked team since February 14, 2010 when they defeated then No. 7 Georgetown at home. It’s just the seventh time in school history that they have defeated a ranked opponent.

Time’s are changing for Rutgers basketball and hopefully last night is a sign of things to come.

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