National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Rutgers 76, Seton Hall 70
When: 2:25 PM ET, Tuesday, March 8, 2011
Where: Madison Square Garden, New York, New York
Officials: # Jeff Clarke, # Karl Hess, # Wally Rutecki
Attendance: 19375

Jonathan Mitchell scored eight of his 25 points in overtime as 13th-seeded Rutgers outlasted 12th-seeded Seton Hall, 76-70, in overtime on Tuesday in the first round of the Big East Championship at Madison Square Garden.

James Beatty and Gilvydas Biruta added 12 points apiece for the Scarlet Knights (15-16, 5-13 Big East), who will face fifth-seeded St. John’s in the second round on Wednesday.

Rutgers trailed for most of the second half before jumping back into it with an 11-1 spurt late in the period. Beatty hit a pair of 3-pointers and Mitchell scored five points during the run to go up 59-57 with 1:51 remaining.

Seton Hall would retake the lead, 61-59, when Jeff Robinson hit a pair of free throws with 56 seconds left, but Rutgers got the ball back and worked it around to Mitchell, who drained a 3-pointer from the right wing to put the Scarlet Knights back on top, 62-61.

After a pair of free throws made it 64-61, the Pirates had one last chance in regulation and got it to Jeremy Hazell, who knocked down a deep 3-pointer with one second left to force the extra period.

Hazell finished 27 points in his final college game for Seton Hall (13-18, 7-11).
Top Game Performances
 
Rutgers   Seton Hall
Jonathan Mitchell 25 Scoring Jeremy Hazell 27
Dane Miller 4 Assists Eniel Polynice 6
Dane Miller 11 Rebounds Eniel Polynice 8
Jonathan Mitchell 11 Free Throws Made Jeremy Hazell 5
James Beatty 5 Steals Jordan Theodore 4
Mike Poole 1 Blocks Fuquan Edwin 1
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Rutgers 76 46.0 6-16 24-37 13 35 1 13
Seton Hall 70 39.7 8-27 12-19 15 33 3 11