Darin Smith Jr. scored 21 points as Central Connecticut State scored its second upset of a major conference school this season, toppling Rutgers 67-54 on Friday in Piscataway, N.J.
Jay Rodgers delivered 15 points and nine assists as the Blue Devils (3-2) of the Northeast Conference beat a Big Ten team for the first time in 20 attempts.
Max Frazier powered Central Connecticut State inside with 14 points and a game-high 13 rebounds. Against the taller Scarlet Knights, the Blue Devils won the battle of the boards 41-37.
Tariq Francis scored 19 points to pace Rutgers (4-1), which lost to Central Connecticut State for the first time in six meetings.
The Blue Devils took the lead midway through the first half and held it the rest of the way as they enjoyed a significant edge from beyond the arc.
Central Connecticut State made 9 of 21 shots (42.9%) from 3-point range, with Rodgers draining all three of his attempts from deep and Smith adding a trio of triples.
Meanwhile, Rutgers connected on just 5 of 19 (26.3%) of their 3-point tries.
The Blue Devils’ first major statement this season came last week when they took down Boston College of the Atlantic Coast Conference, 60-59, as Smith scored the winning basket with 3 seconds left.
That was their first win over a major conference school since beating Providence in 1999.
Midway through the first half, Central Connecticut State went on a 13-point run fueled by two 3-pointers from Rodgers and one from Smith.
The burst gave the Blue Devils a 26-17 lead with 7:42 remaining in the half, but the Scarlet Knights answered with their own eight-point spree bookended by driving layups from Francis.
Emmanuel Ogbole (six points, 10 rebounds) rejected a pair of shots to help spark the run for Rutgers which trailed 32-28 at the break.
Central Connecticut State opened the second half with a 10-3 run featuring triples by Melo Sanchez and James Jones. The spurt gave the Blue Devils a 42-31 lead.
Rutgers whittled the deficit to three points on two occasions before Central Connecticut State put it away.
Rodgers hit a triple and a pull-up jumper to trigger an 11-0 run which gave the Blue Devils their biggest lead of the night at 61-47 with 2:30 left.
Central Connecticut State only committed seven turnovers and scored 13 of the 15 fast-break points in the contest.
–Field Level Media
