Seniors give Rutgers second Big East win

For the three seniors on the Rutgers men’s basketball team, their career has been a roller coaster filled with enough twists and turns to make them reach for a sickness bag.
So after four years filled with a coaching change, non-stop setbacks and an unending string of tough losses, how could their Senior Day be any different?
It wasn’t — except it came with a happy ending, though even that was in jeopardy until the very end.
Anthony Farmer, Jaron Griffin and JR Inman started together on their Senior Day for the first time since last season, and all played significant minutes to help pull out a 45-42 victory for the Scarlet Knights in their last game at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.
It was a gritty and ugly game where both teams had their struggles on the offensive end and would have been remembered for its ineptitude, if not for it being Senior Day. Instead, Rutgers came out with the win because it overcame scoring only two points over the last 8:40, as that one bucket came at the most crucial time.
Sophomore forward Earl Pettis tipped in a missed lay-up with 13 seconds remaining to give his team a 45-42 lead, followed by a missed last second three-pointer by South Florida’s Augustus Gilchrist on the other end to squeeze out a RU win.
After the buzzer sounded Inman ran around the court with a wide smile, high-fiving anyone in sight, and Farmer received a big bear hug from sophomore guard Corey Chandler at mid-court. They were ecstatic at walking off the RAC court winners, even if it came in a way that’s become typical of their senior class.
“You said we had you guys up on the edge of your seats — that’s how it’s been our whole career,” said Farmer, who finished tied for a team-high 10 points. “We were fortunate today to get a win and that’s the most important thing for this program and for us to leave out on a good note.”
It almost didn’t turn out that way. The Knights took a 43-34 lead after Inman drained a three-pointer with 8:40 remaining. At that point the lead seemed insurmountable because both teams looked so incompetent offensively. But Rutgers would go on an extended cold-streak and not score again until Pettis’ basket. During that time USF slowly whittled down the deficit until the Knights were only up 43-42.
After Dominique Jones missed a lay-up, RU got the ball back with a 1:53 remaining, leading to a frantic and drawn out final possession. Following two missed shots, two offensive rebounds and two time-outs, Rutgers had the ball in Farmer’s hands with 28 seconds left.
Farmer ran a pick-and-roll with Inman and ended up with the ball in his hands at the top of the key and Gilchrist guarding him. He drove to the basket but missed the lay-up. Freshman forward Gregory Echenique missed the put-back from right near the basket, but the Knights finally scored after Pettis came from the weak side, unguarded, to tip the ball in and extend the lead.
“Down the stretch we made every big play, every play that we needed to,” Farmer said. “Shots might not have been falling but defensively, defensive rebounding, offensively, getting tip outs, snapping up the loose ones, that’s what won the game for us. Our hustle down the stretch is really what pulled it out for us.”
Hustle and offensive rebounding were the difference in the game because both USF and RU had trouble getting the ball in the basket. Rutgers shot 31 percent compared to 29 percent for the Bulls but came up with 15 offensive rebounds.
Inman came up with five offensive rebounds on the way to finishing with a double-double. It was his first since December of 2007 and his 10 points and 12 rebounds were team-highs in both categories.
“If you like offense, this wasn’t the game for you,” said USF head coach Stan Heath. “Both teams really struggled to score the ball but I think both teams defended really well. The difference was rebounding.”
The game reminded Inman of last year’s Senior Day match-up, also against South Florida. That one was also scrappy and low scoring with USF coming out with a 54-52 win in the final moments. That the Knights managed to pull out a win Saturday showed progress to the senior forward.
“For us to win this game and show our poise down the stretch really demonstrates the growth that we as seniors and we as a ball club as a whole have undergone,” Inman said. “Had this been a year ago, I’m not positive we would have come out on top.”