Rasheed Jones and Tariq Francis scored 14 points apiece as Rutgers opened its season with an 81-54 rout of visiting New Haven on Friday night in Piscataway, N.J.
The Scarlet Knights won their opener under assistant coach Brandin Knight while head coach Steve Pikiell undergoes cancer treatment.
A Coastal Carolina transfer, Jones made five of six shots and led the Scarlet Knights with four 3-pointers.
JaMichael Davis contributed 13 points and five rebounds, and Virginia Tech transfer Christian Gurdak chipped in 12 points in his Rutgers debut. Darin Smith Jr. added nine points and six rebounds.
Rutgers shot 50% from the field and made 9 of 23 3-point attempts (39.1%). The Scarlet Knights scored 36 points in the paint and got 37 points from their reserves, led by Jones’ strong debut.
Teshaun Steele and Zoumana Traore led all scorers with 15 points apiece as New Haven (0-2) suffered its second straight blowout loss to a power-conference opponent.
The Chargers shot 40% from the field and made 7 of 20 3-pointers (35%). New Haven committed 17 turnovers, which led to 24 Rutgers points.
The Scarlet Knights scored 12 straight points over three minutes to build an 18-6 lead with 11:42 left in the first half. The Chargers trimmed the margin to 24-18 on a 3-pointer by Steele with 5:29 remaining, but Rutgers took a 29-18 lead on Darren Buchanan Jr.’s 3-pointer less than a minute later.
Rutgers scored nine of the final 11 points of the half to take a 39-23 lead into the break. The Scarlet Knights then scored seven straight points in 73 seconds to extend their advantage to 48-25 on Smith’s putback with 17:39 remaining. Gurdak’s layup pushed the lead to 60-35 with 12:54 left, essentially sealing the outcome.