UConn limits Mack’s offense

The Rutgers men’s basketball team got exactly what it wanted from junior guard Jerome Seagears, but not what it expected out of junior guard Myles Mack on Saturday against Connecticut.

Not starting since Dec. 4 against George Washington, Seagears scored 19 points off the bench in 30 minutes.

But Mack’s 6 total points and 0 first-half points limited the Scarlet Knights’ offense in UConn’s 82-71 victory at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.

Guard Ryan Boatright locked Mack down, as the St. Anthony (N.J.) High School product shot 2-for-9. He shot 2-for-7 from 3-point land, as Boatright blocked his dribbling lanes.

Seagears’ playing time diminished since taking a bench role. He played 24 minutes or more in all but one of eight games he started this year. He only surpassed that mark in four games since.

But Seagears helps Mack on the floor, said head coach Eddie Jordan.

“What Jerome does, it allows Myles to not be so point guardish-like because [senior forward] J.J. [Moore] doesn’t really initiate the offense, although he’s getting better,” Jordan said postgame. “But it allows Myles to not have to organize us as much as he has to when J.J. is on the floor.”

Mack and Seagears consistently hitting shots in the same game is a rare occurrence, though. In the six games Seagears eclipsed double-figure scoring, Mack stayed in single figures.

But if Mack and Seagears do not take away from each other on the court, consistency is their issue.

Seagears said coming off the bench does not hurt his consistency.

“I don’t really think of it as anything anymore,” Seagears said. “I just try to go out there and play ball and do what I can to help my team.”

Junior forward Kadeem Jack recorded 19 points and 11 rebounds against Connecticut. He did so mostly playing out of position at center.

Senior forward Wally Judge played 10 scoreless minutes before fouling out, forcing Jack to shift positions.

On paper, the 6-foot-9 Jack needed to oppose 7-foot Connecticut center Amida Brimah. Luckily for Jack, that often was not the case.

“It didn’t make it that difficult this game because [Brimah] didn’t play that much in the second half,” Jack said. “So I kind of had to shift and move to the five, but it wasn’t that bad because [forward Phillip Nolan is 6-foot-10].”

Brimah played only seven second-half minutes, while Nolan played 11. Brimah posted 10 points and eight boards, while Nolan had 4 points and one rebound.

But UConn still dominated the paint, outscoring Rutgers, 34-12, in that area.

Rutgers played amid a sold-out crowd of 8,006 for “blackout night.” The crowd consistently rumbled the RAC, but Jordan wishes the team gave it more.

“I’d like to see them more excited and happier,” Jordan said. “For us to get that 3-point lead and expand it and get some cushion and get some exciting plays, we’ve just got to get some runs of exciting plays. We just don’t have enough.”

The RAC’s largest attendance this year was previously 7,663 Jan. 4 against Louisville.

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