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Pirates hand Rutgers third-straight defeat

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Junior forward Kadeem Jack has a simple explanation with no simple solution for the Rutgers men’s basketball team’s 77-71 loss to Seton Hall.

The Scarlet Knights “don’t know how to win.”

“Coming together, just putting our heads down and keep working hard,” Jack said of how to fix the issue.

The Knights (4-6) likely left the Louis Brown Athletic Center with their heads down last night, as their losing streak extended to three games.

Seton Hall (6-3) guard Ashton Gibbs waved both his arms upward to a large blue patch of fans in the final minute as the Pirates got free throws from intentional fouls.

Rutgers’ toughness was there as it blocked seven shots, but a late offensive rebound killed a near Knights comeback.

The rebound went just over senior forward J.J. Moore as Seton Hall guard Haralds Karlis hustled for the rebound outside the perimeter.

Rutgers could only foul as it trailed, 73-71, with 28 seconds left.

Moore, with 13 points off the bench, paused Rutgers fans’ eruption as junior guard Myles Mack fed him an alley-oop.

With two hands flailing for the dunk and the rest of Moore’s body motionless after his running jump, the crowd exploded. Rutgers only trailed, 72-71, with 1:23 left.

“I’ve always had that coming from Pittsburgh, just coming off the bench and trying to give the spark off the bench,” Moore said. “That’s what I tried to do out there.”

The Knights previously clawed so hard for turnovers, they sent Karlis rolling down the floor.

Rutgers forced Karlis to fall back on tight defense, sending him rolling away from the perimeter as he got a traveling violation with 6:17 left.

“I know about the rivalry, but we should play like that every game,” said head coach Eddie Jordan. “It doesn’t matter if it’s Seton Hall or [Florida A&M] or Syracuse or Louisville. It doesn’t matter. We should play hard with a lot of intensity every game.”

The Pirates’ victory began with being just a little more fine-tuned inside.

Seton Hall center Eugene Teague recorded 16 points and 16 rebounds, contributing to Rutgers’ 38-31 rebounding deficit.

“We wanted to play one-on-one in the post, but then we couldn’t handle people one-on-one in the post,” Jordan said. “So we had to come and give help, and when we did that, we got people open.”

Gibbs, who averaged 14.6 points per game this season entering the contest, closed the first half with 15 points and a 3-pointer with four seconds left. That gave Seton Hall the 37-33 half time lead.

The Scotch Plains, N.J., native shot 5-for-6 from the floor and 2-for-2 from 3-point range.

Seton Hall overall went 5-for-12 from behind the 3-point line in the first half. The Pirates opened those shots through quick passing that got the Knights to abruptly shift for double teams, but kept an open man on the perimeter.

The Pirates ended the Knights’ three-game winning streak in the “Turnpike Tussle.”

Rutgers is 0-2 against New Jersey foes this year with a loss to Fairleigh Dickinson. As a member of New Jersey’s premier in-state rivalry, Princeton on Wednesday could continue the Rutgers free fall this year in Garden State hoops.

Knight Note: Junior guard D’Von Campbell left the game injured with 17:01 left in the second half after he received a thigh to the groin.

That leaves Rutgers down to Mack and junior guard Jerome Seagears in the backcourt.

“We’ve got to figure out who’s going to be our third guard,” Jordan said of if Campbell misses time. “Whether it’s going to be [junior wings] Malick Kone or Craig Brown, we don’t know yet.”

Both Kone and Brown have played little shooting guard this year.

For updates on the Rutgers men’s basketball team, follow Josh Bakan on Twitter @JoshBakan. For general Rutgers sports updates, follow @TargumSports.


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