Rutgers News, Villanova News

VILLANOVA BLOWS OUT RUTGERS; KNIGHTS IMPLODING FROM WITHIN

Villanova buries Rutgers deeper down the Big East ladder

Just another tough night all around for Rutgers men’s basketball once again on Wednesday. Not only were the Scarlet Knights run out of their own building by Villanova in a not-so-close 94-68 loss, but it came as former local high school stars led the way for ‘Nova, the home fans once again serenaded head coach Fred Hill with boos before the game and post game comments from players openly questioned efforts of teammates, even calling for coach Hill to take action towards one ‘star’ player.

Fourth Ranked ‘Nova Runs Down Rutgers (Philadelphia Inquirer) as the ‘Jersey Guys’ Lead No. 4 Wildcats to 94-68 Win over RU (Star-Ledger). Jay Wright’s club had three players in double gigures, Dominic Cheek (17), Corey Stokes (16) and Corey Fisher (15) and all three played their high school ball at powerful jersey programs, Cheek coming from St. Anthony’s in Jersey City and the Coreys are products of St. Patrick of Elizabeth.

While the story of the game is hardly Villanova doing what they were expected to do to the increasingly hapless Rutgers program, it was the Emotional Locker Room Comments from Hamady N’Diaye and Dane Miller That Should Open Eyes to Rutgers’ Problems’ (Star-Ledger) and show just how dysfunctional things have become.

According to Dane Miller: “We Gave Up” (Hoops Haven). That alone is an Ouch! But, it doesn’t stop there…here are more of the post-game quotes that Jerry Carino highlighted at Hoops Haven:

Hamady N’Diaye — “It’s all mental. How much heart do you have and how much anger do you have to fight for whatever you want and not let anybody come in and kind of punk you in your own place? That’s one thing that’s unacceptable for any team, Rutgers or whoever.”

N’Diaye on Mike Rosario (1-8 from floor, 3 pts, 0 assists, 0 steals, 3 turnovers in 26 minutes) — “I really don’t know what’s wrong with Mike. The coaches have to see with him. He probably needs to get a little bit better focused, but I can’t tell. He seems fine to me when we’re at practice. Coach Hill or somebody has to step up and ask him. Maybe I have to address it and try to find out.”

Dane Miller — “Some other guys, Jonathan Mitchell and Hamady when he was in the game, were playing hard. We need the whole team to do that. Even if you’re not in the game you’ve still got to be cheering everybody on.”

“We have play with more heart. I don’t care how talented you are. You can’t win games without heart.”

To their credit, Miller and N’Diaye played hard. Miller scored 26 points, grabbed 8 rebounds and had 6 assists, all team highs for the freshman forward out of Rochester (NY). N’Diaye added 12 points, 6 rebounds and 5 blocks in 22 minutes before fouling out.

The loss knocked the Scarlet Knights to 0-6 in the Big East and coupled with DePaul Stunning Marquette for a Rare Big East Win, RU is the only conference team without a league win. Fred Hill’s team is now 9-9 overall.

Villanova improved to 6-0 in the league and 17-1 overall and with Georgetown Having the ‘Wright’ Stuff in Win at Pitt, the Wildcats sit alone atop the league standings.

We will leave you with two final observations among Jerry Carino’s ‘Five Points’ in his game wrap-up at his Hoops Haven blog:

– Mike Rosario declined to meet with reporters afterward. He’s done that before at practice, but this is a first after a game. Rosario (1-of-8, three points) is now 20-of-79 from the field in Big East Play, and Miller’s comments about giving up seemed directed largely at him. We could be wrong, and things change, but right now all signs point toward a player with one foot out the door.

– N’Diaye, who is always upbeat, was on the verge of tears afterward. His voice cracked a couple of times and his eyes welled up as he spoke with reporters. That says it all.

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