Rutgers Upsets #10 Florida 85-83

Added by Jonathan Chen on December 29, 2011.

Rutgers capped off a double over-time thriller against #10 Florida with an 85-83 win at the RAC. The atmosphere was perfect, the fans were into the game, and the players were continuing to hit down clutch shots.

True freshman Eli Carter was red hot in the second half by making shots that seemed out of his reach. Playing 46 minutes in the game, Carter made 12 of his 24 shots and two big 3-pointers that tallied into his career high 31 point. Myles Mack, another freshman, also had a huge impact late in the game by being the secondary duo who drained three of his five three pointers in the second half and scoring all 14 in the latter half of the match.

We even had the chance to catch a glimpse of highly-anticipated Kadeem Jack who was expected to come back late January but got a shot tonight at the final minutes of the first half.

But the big icon of the game was the return of ex-Rutgers star Mike Rosario. Just as expected, he was booed every time he entered the game or touched the ball. Even when he was leaving to sit on the bench, the ominous boos from the fans was prominent around the RAC. He was limited to only 2-of-6 throughout the game and had trouble putting in the shots.

Rutgers never had a shot at the lead until about five minutes left in the second half when they took a one point lead, leading to the student section erupt into cheers. The game was a back-and-forth brawl to the end as both sides came back whenever it seemed as if one side was pulling away.

Rutgers, a clear underdog in the game, did a great job suffocating Florida’s shots by holding star Erving Walker to only nine points and shooting less than 50%.

Rutgers’ constant high pick-and-roll from Biruta and rebounds from Derrick Randall ultimately worked after several tries and allowed shooters like Eli Carter to hit the bank shots. Eli Carter showed he is a high profile player to look after with the plays he put out on Florida’s defense.

Again, this is Mike Rice’s second top #10 upset at Rutgers as they also upset Villanova last year in an unforgettable 4-point play by Jonathan Mitchell to end the game. I know I was wrong about what I said about Rutgers Men’s Basketball in the beginning of the season and take back all of the criticism I had towards them. If they continue to play like this for the rest of the season and the huge Big East games, Mike Rice’s Scarlet Knights are bound to put up a huge eye-opener in the upcoming March Madness.

Rutgers Men Basketball heads to Tampa, Florida to take on University of South Florida on New Year’s Day at 12:00 P.M.