Rutgers mens basketball improved to 3-0 after defeating Lehigh 84-72 on Friday night.
The game started slowly for the Scarlet Knights, as the Warhawks would grab a 10-9 lead with 15 minutes left in the first half, which was engineered by two quick threes. Lehigh would push its lead to four with 10 minutes left to go in the half. The Hawks would keep pace with Rutgers throughout the first half, largely thanks to their five three-pointers before the break. The Knights would retake the lead, 21-19, with 8:47 left to play in the first half. Both teams would trade shots from there, with Rutgers pushing their lead to seven to go into halftime up 41-34. Dylan Grant would finish the first half with 18 points.
The Knights would come out of the half and push their lead to ten with 15 minutes left to play in the game. Lehigh would cut into Rutgers lead to make it 61-54 RU with 10 minutes left to play. The Hawks would draw within one possession several times in the final ten minutes, but the Knights were able to hit their shots when needed to pull away and seal the 12-point victory.
Grant and Emmanuel Ogbole had one of the best games of their careers, as Grant scored 28 points and grabbed four rebounds while Ogbole recorded the first double-double of his career by scoring 16 points and grabbing 10 rebounds. Grant continues to show why he could be a go-to scoring option for this team, while Ogbole rebounded from an ugly two-game slate to have the best game of his college career. Jamichael Davis had a solid outing as well, scoring 14 points and grabbing 4 rebounds.
Despite the win, Rutgers struggled in several areas. Two of these areas are perimeter scoring and perimeter defense. The Knights hit just three of 13 shot attempts from beyond the arc while Lehigh hit nine of 25 from deep. Rutgers will need more of a perimeter presence to compete in Big Ten play. In addition, many of the Knights shooters went cold in general, as Tariq Francis, Denis Badalau, Harun Zrno, and Lino Mark would combine for 8 points on 18 field goal attempts.
The defense as a whole had its struggles, allowing 42.6 percent shooting from the floor and 36 percent from three. Rutgers will need to show their promised return to defensive basketball to keep games from running away from them.
The Knights will be back in action at home on Tuesday, November 18th, as they are set to tip off against American at 6:30 pm EST. The live broadcast for the game will be available on the Big Ten Network.