Seton Hall’s Jeremy Hazell buried a 3 with one second left to send this one to overtime, but Rutgers went on a 7-0 run at the end of overtime to secure a 76-70 win and advance to the second round of the Big East tournament. The Scarlet Knights will face St. John’s tomorrow afternoon for the right to face Syracuse on Thursday.
In a game that was a big departure from the blowout that opened the tournament, these two evenly matched schools that finished 12th and 3th in the conference respectively put on a real show. In fact, seconds before Hazell hit the tying three with a second left to send the game to OT, Rutgers had hit the go ahead three that looked like a game winner. Hazell led all scorers with 27.
Rutgers had four players in double figures, lead by Jonathan Mitchell’s 25. The senior forward wasn’t terribly efficient from the field shooting 6-14, but he he was steady at the foul line burying 11 of 14.
Rutgers faces a major test in the next round against St. John’s in a battle of New York area rivals. The Red Storm and Scarlet Knight fans that are sure to fill Madison Square Garden should make that a fun one to watch.