Denis Badalau scored a game-high 19 points, all in the first half, and Tariq Francis finished with 12 to lead Rutgers to a 72-60 nonconference victory over Maine on Monday in Piscataway, N.J.
Dylan Grant added 10 points and 10 rebounds for the Scarlet Knights (2-0), who scored 25 points off 18 Maine turnovers.
Isaac Bonilla made four 3-pointers and led the Black Bears (0-3) with 12 points. Bashir N’Galang added 11 points and TJ Biel had 10 for Maine, which never led in the game.
Rutgers won despite missing 11 of its 29 free-throw attempts. Maine was 7 of 13 from the free throw line.
Maine played without forward Ryan Mabrey, who is nursing an ankle injury. Mabrey averaged 9.5 points and 4.5 rebounds per game in Maine’s first two contests.
Rutgers used a 13-0 run to take an early 15-2 lead, but Maine answered with a 9-0 spurt to pull within 22-15 with 8:35 left in the first half. Badalau hit a 3-pointer to put the Scarlet Knights up 28-15, and Badalau hit another 3 a minute later on the fast break.
Badalau’s fourth and final 3-pointer of the game gave Rutgers a 34-25 lead with 2:28 remaining in the half.
Maine was within four points, 34-30, following a Keelan Steele basket with 1:10 left in the half, but Francis sank a 3-pointer to hand Rutgers a 37-30 halftime lead.
Badalau made 6 of 8 shots in the half, including 4 of 5 3-pointers.
Rutgers scored the first 10 points of the second half to stretch its lead to 47-30. Maine didn’t score in the second half until a Yanis Bamba 3-pointer with 15:36 to play.
The Scarlet Knights went up by 17 when Harun Zrno made two free throws that pushed the lead to 58-41 with 10:43 left. Maine didn’t get any closer than 12 points the rest of the way. The Rutgers lead peaked at 18 points.
–Field Level Media
