Road Weary Howard Take on Rutgers
New Brunswick, NJ—The Howard University men's basketball team will be looking to rebound from a road loss at Oregon State when it takes on the Scarlet Knights of Rutgers tonight at 7:30 pm at the RAC tonight.
The Bison (3-9) face a daunting task after flying across country from Corvallis, OR on Wednesday to face a rested Rutgers team, which is coming off an 88-79 win over UAB on December 16.
In the loss to the Beavers, Howard got into early foul trouble and it impacted on the second half of the game when Oregon State used its bench to pull away from the undermanned and road-weary Bison.
Howard got another consistent offensive performance from senior forward Mike Phillips, who finished with 15, but Oregon State took away the other half of the Bison's 1-2 offensive punch in senior guard Calvin Thompson, who was held scoreless for the first time in his career. Thonpson came into the game averaging 15 points per game and had scored in double figures in five straight contests.
Some of the offensive slack was picked up by sophomore forward Prince Okoroh and senior reserve guard Anton Dickerson, who scored eight points in five minutes. But it was not enough to overcome the loss of junior center Alphonso Leary, the Bison's defensive presence and Thompson.
The Scarlet Knights will be without their head coach Mike Rice, who has been suspended for three games by the University. The leadership reins will be taken over by Associate head coach David Cox during Rice's absence. This will be Cox's first experience as a head coach on the collegiate level.
Rutgers is a young, but very athletic team that relies on the scoring of its two sophomore guards, Eli Carter (16.8 ppg) and Mack Myles (16.0 ppg), who average over 32 points between them. Myles is especially dangerous on offense with his ability to score from long range, shooting an impressive 50 percent from three-point range on the season. He and Carter are also especially efficient at the free throw line. Myles is shooting 96 percent and Carter 88 from the charity stripe.
The front line is also very talented with the likes of 6-9 junior forward Wally Judge (Archbishop Carroll HS), who averages 7.2 points and almost 7 rebounds per contest.
The game tips off at 7:30 pm.
The Bison get a much-needed rest after the game and will not play again until they face the University of Central Florida in the first round of the UCF Classic in Orlando, FL on December 28.