January 4, 1997

Rutgers Races To 17-point Win Over Notre Dame

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Geoff Billet finished with 19 points and EarlJohnson added 18 as Rutgers sailed to a 70-53 win over Notre Dame todaybefore a crowd of 6,041 at the Louis Brown Athletic Center.

Rutgers pulled off the 17-point win despite shooting just 38 percentfrom the field in the game. The biggest key was Notre Dame shot just31 percent from the field and finished the contest a dismal 5-for-21from three-point range.

Rob Hodgson added 12 points, while Eric Clark chipped in with 11 forRutgers, which held a 39-30 lead at halftime.

Matt Gotsch and Admore White paced Notre Dame (7-4, 1-2) with 10 pointsapiece. Junior forward Pat Garrity, who finished with a game-high 15rebounds, was limited to just nine points on 3-for-16 shooting.

Notre Dame returns to action on January 14 when it plays host toVillanova.

NOTRE DAME (53)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpManner          20   1-3   3-5   4-5  0  3    5Garrity         37  3-16   3-6  5-15  1  3    9Young           11   0-2   0-0   1-2  1  1    0White           36  4-10   1-2   0-6  7  3   10Miller          15   1-3   0-0   0-0  0  1    2Wyche           11   1-6   0-0   0-0  0  4    3Lalazarian      16   1-2   1-3   2-4  1  1    3Bell             7   1-3   0-2   1-3  0  1    2Friel           14   3-7   0-0   0-0  0  2    9Dillon           4   0-2   0-0   0-1  0  0    0Gotsch          20   4-6   2-3   2-4  0  2   10Hickey           9   0-1   0-0   1-3  0  1    0_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 19-61 10-21 16-43 10 22   53_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.311, FT-.476. 3-Point Goals:5-21, .238 (Garrity 0-2, White 1-4, Miller 0-2,Wyche 1-5, Bell 0-1, Friel 3-6, Dillon 0-1). Teamrebounds: 3. Blocked shots: 2 (Gotsch, Garrity).Turnovers: 18 (Garrity 5, Manner 4, Lalazarian 2,Miller 2, Dillon, Gotsch, Hickey, White, Young).Steals: 6 (White 2, Friel, Hickey, Miller, Young).RUTGERS (70)                      fg    ft    rb               min   m-a   m-a   o-t  a pf   tpSanders         23   0-2   1-3   1-8  0  3    1Hodgson         35  4-12   2-2   1-4  1  2   12Clark           23   2-3  7-10   1-6  1  3   11Johnson         36  6-11   3-4   1-3  6  2   18Billet          36  5-11   6-8   0-1  3  0   19Mccrimmon        3   0-2   0-0   0-1  0  2    0Holcomb          3   0-1   0-0   1-1  2  2    0Matijasevic      1   0-0   0-0   0-0  0  1    0Blake            7   0-4   1-2   0-1  0  0    1Mills           23   3-7   0-0   3-8  0  2    6Sankes          10   1-2   0-0   1-3  0  3    2_______________________________________________TOTALS         200 21-55 20-29  9-36 13 20   70_______________________________________________Percentages: FG-.382, FT-.690. 3-Point Goals:8-16, .500 (Hodgson 2-4, Johnson 3-5, Billet 3-5,Mccrimmon 0-1, Mills 0-1). Team rebounds: 7.Blocked shots: 5 (Hodgson 2, Sankes 2, Clark).Turnovers: 15 (Sanders 4, Hodgson 3, Johnson 3,Billet, Blake, Clark, Mccrimmon, Mills). Steals:12 (Hodgson 4, Johnson 3, Clark 2, Sanders 2,Billet).__________________________________Notre Dame         30   23  -   53Rutgers            39   31  -   70__________________________________Technical fouls: Notre Dame 1 (Garrity).  Rutgers1 (Holcomb).  A: 6,041. Officials: James Burr,Mike Kitts, William Bush.