Rutgers Men's Basketball Team Opens Eddie Jordan Era With Win

The Rutgers University men’s basketball team began to move beyond the Mike Rice scandal Friday night.

The Scarlet Knights gave new head coach Eddie Jordan his first victory when they defeated Florida A&M, 92-84, at home Friday night.

Junior forward Kadeem Jack led the way with 30 points, 12 rebounds, an assist and a block, according to scarletknights.com. He shot 12-of-18, and recorded his second career double-double. His 30 points was a career high.

He was named the American Athletic Conference Player of the Week on Monday morning as the result of his efforts, according to the University.

Rutgers had a 46-41 lead at halftime.

Junior guard Myles Mack, of Paterson, had 19 points, two rebounds, three assists, two blocked shots and six steals. Senior forward J.J. Moore had 17 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and a steal.

Rutgers is 1-0 and visits the University of Alabama-Birmingham tonight, 8 p.m.

Jordan took over the program in the offseason after previous head coach Mike Rice was fired after a video surfaced in which he was seen using offensive language and shoving his players. Athletic Director Tim Pernetti resigned shortly thereafter, and was replaced by Julie Hermann.

WOMEN’S SOCCER FALLS IN CONFERENCE TITLE GAME: The women’s soccer team went to penalty kicks twice last week in the semifinals and final of the American Athletic Conference tournament.

In the semifinals, the Scarlet Knights defeated Memphis. The game was scoreless at the end of regulation and through two overtime periods.

Senior Tricia DiPaolo, of Sparta, and sophomore Erica Skroski, of Galloway, converted their penalty kick attempts to give Rutgers the win. The Scarlet Knights outscored Memphis, 2-1, in this phase of the game. Senior Jess Janosz, of Ringwood, made a total of six saves.

Two days later, it was more of the same against top-seeded Central Florida.

The game was scoreless after regulation and through two overtime periods once again.  This time, Central Florida outscored Rutgers, 8-7, on penalty kicks, despite Janosz’s career-high 10 saves. She was named the tournament’s Most Outstanding Defensive Player.

DiPaolo and Skroski converted penalty kicks again, as did sophomore Rachel Cole, of Teaneck; junior Amy Pietrangelo, of Canada; freshman Jennifer Anderson, of Franklin Lakes; freshman Ali Ryan, of Bowie, Maryland; and sophomore Erica Sousa, of Franklin Square, New York.

Rutgers will now await the NCAA Division I Women’s Soccer Championship Selection Show to see if it qualifies for this year’s tournament. The show airs at 4:30 p.m. on Monday on ncaa.com.

MEN’S SOCCER PULLS AN UPSET: The men’s soccer team is still alive for a conference championship after upsetting top-seeded Louisville in the American Athletic Conference tournament over the weekend.

The Scarlet Knights entered the tournament as the No. 8 seed, and had to play No. 9 Cincinnati in the opening round game of the nine-team tournament.

Senior Kene Eze, of Sayreville, scored four times in Rutgers’ 5-1 win over the Bearcats. His four goals were the most in a conference game this season and the team’s five goals were the most for Rutgers in a single game since 2006, according to scarletknights.com.

The other goal came from sophomore Drew Morgan, and freshman goalie David Greczek made six saves.

Rutgers trailed 1-0 early in the game.

The Scarlet Knights then scored the 1-0 upset over No. 1 Louisville two days later. Sophomore Mael Corboz scored with just under five minutes left the game.

Greczek made nine saves and secured his fifth shutout of the season.

He was named to the College Soccer News’ National Team of the Week for his efforts.

Rutgers travels to Frisco, Texas for the semifinals this weekend. On Friday, it faces No. 5 seed South Florida, 5 p.m.

No. 2 Connecticut faces No. 3 Central Florida in the nightcap, and the winners face off for the conference title Sunday afternoon, 1 p.m. on ESPN3. All times are central.

WRESTLING TEAM HAS STRONG SHOWING IN BINGHAMTON: Four Rutgers wrestlers finished in the top four in their weight classes at the Jonathan Kaloust Bearcat Open in Binghamton over the weekend.

Sophomore Billy Smith, of Wantage, advanced to the 285-pound final before falling to Penn State’s Jimmy Lawson, 3-1. Lawson is ranked No. 13 by AWN. Smith is ranked 20th.

Smith won four matches in the tournament, including an opening round pinfall win over Lock Haven’s Mauro Correnti in two minutes, 18 seconds.

He scored a 2-1 decision over Penn State’s Jon Gingrich; a 12-2 major decision over Cornell’s Stryker Lane; and 6-4 decision over Penn State’s Nicholas Ruggear in the semifinals.

Sophomore Hayden Hrymack, of Lincroft, defeated Princeton’s Ray O’Donnell in the first round at 197 before being pinned by Penn State’s Morgan McIntosh. Hrymack defeated seven opponents in the wrestleback bracket to take third place.

Freshman Scott DelVecchio, of South Plainfield, dropped his first match at 125 to Binghamton’s David White, 4-3. DelVecchio won six matches in the wrestleback bracket to take third place.

DelVecchio’s teammate at South Plainfield, Corey Stasenko, advanced to the semifinals at 141. He defeated Patrick Hogan, 6-2, in the first round; Boston’s Peter Ishiguro, 10-2, in the second; Cortland’s Tony Battista, 21-5 in the third; and Lock Haven’s Dan Neff, 4-3, in the quarterfinals. He fell to Penn State’s Zain Retherford, 15-0, in the semifinals, and ultimately finished fourth.

Brackets in all weight classes are available here.