Rutgers Beats DePaul, 66-59
ROSEMONT, Ill. (AP) — Corey Sanders had 15 points, Mike Williams added 14 and nine rebounds and Rutgers remained unbeaten under first-year coach Steve Pikiell with a 66-59 victory over DePaul in the Gavitt Tip-Off Games on Thursday night.
Deshawn Freeman added nine points and nine rebounds as the Scarlet Knights improved to 3-0 for the first time since the 2008-09 season.
Eli Cain had 24 points on 8-for-13 shooting to lead DePaul.
Billy Garrett had just five points for the Blue Demons (1-1) on 1-for-11 shooting before fouling out with more than eight minutes remaining.
DePaul freshman Devin Gage suffered an apparent right shoulder injury when he fell hard to the court with just under 12 minutes left. He did not return.
Rutgers took control with a 12-2 run for a 31-22 lead. The Scarlet Knights had a 33-26 halftime advantage.
Both teams shot poorly in the first half, but the difference for Rutgers was an 11-0 edge in second-chance points and a 29-8 first-half rebounding advantage.
The Scarlet Knights continued to expand the lead at the beginning of the second half and took a 54-32 advantage (their biggest of the game) on a basket by Shaquille Doorson with 10:39 to play.
DePaul made a furious late rally using pressure to pull within six points in the final minute, but ran out of time.
BIG PICTURE
Rutgers: Although the Scarlet Knights are unbeaten, it's way too early to tell whether the program is on the rebound. So far, the competition has been underwhelming (Molloy, Drexel and DePaul) and there was plenty not to like about this performance. Still, the defense and rebounding provide a good foundation to build upon.
DePaul: The Blue Demons don't have a lot of offensive firepower to begin with, so scoring is especially difficult when Garrett has a poor shooting night. The lack of a post presence put all the pressure to provide offense on Cain, who had 21 points in the opener against Robert Morris.
UP NEXT
Rutgers looks to stay unbeaten when it hosts Niagara on Sunday.
DePaul plays the second of three straight home games Sunday against Milwaukee.
Copyright 2016 The Associated Press.
