Opening night marked a new beginning for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights men’s basketball team, who entered the 2026-27 season under acting head coach Brandin Knight. Knight is taking over coaching duties from Steve Pikiell, who is currently battling cancer.
Knight addressed Pikiell’s absence at the press conference, wearing a Rutgers T-shirt to support his head coach.
“Coach sent me a great note earlier in the day; it’s funny, he said, ‘Make sure you smile,'” Knight said. “That was one of his biggest things: Have fun, enjoy it, and it’s always about the guys. He said, ‘Have a good time and smile.’ That’s just the way he is. He can find positivity in anything.”
Despite the emotional circumstances surrounding the program, the Scarlet Knights showed little signs of pressure in their season opener, earning a convincing 81-54 victory over the University of New Haven to begin the season 1-0.
“We wanted to play a complete 40 minutes,” Knight said. “How to just dominate both ends. I think we think [we] were plus nine on the glass…I think we forced 17 turnovers. I kind of wanted to speed them up a little bit and just play overall, a little bit more [of an] aggressive game.”
Rutgers jumped out to an early lead in the first half, taking an 18-6 lead in the opening minutes. However, momentum shifted towards the later minutes as the Scarlet Knights’ stifling defensive pressure sparked a 12-0 run late in the period.
That same defensive intensity continued as the Scarlet Knights forced 17 turnovers during the contest, which they converted into 24 points.
The Scarlet Knights closed out an explosive first half highlighted by Jamichael Davis and an alley-oop from Foster.
He would then drill a 3-pointer to put Rutgers up 39-21, sending fans in Jersey Mike’s Arena into a frenzy.
The Scarlet Knights continued their dominance after halftime, holding off the Chargers and extending their lead to as many as 29 points.
Their offensive dominance would see them go on a 9-2 run to go up 48-25 fueled by free throws by Christian Gurdak that would see New Haven call a timeout.
Along with controlling the turnover battle, Rutgers dominated the glass, using its advantage on the boards to out-rebound New Haven by 37-28.
“For 40 minutes, my only goal was just to be one point better than the other team,” Knight said. “Hopefully, if there’s anything that I can impress upon these guys or stress to them, it’s that our unit as a whole, we win and we lose together. So, as excited as I am today for these guys, that’s always going to be the story for me.”
The Scarlet Knights had four performers finish in double digits, led by Tariq Francis, who recorded 14 points on 5-for-14 shooting. Francis also reached a career milestone in the first half, surpassing 1,500 points in his career.
RaSheed Jones also chipped in with 14 points off the bench, shooting 4-for-5 from behind the arc. Christian Gurdak finished with 12 points and three assists. Jamichael Davis finished the contest with 13 points, five rebounds, and three steals.
The Scarlet Knights will look to maintain their early-season momentum when they host NJIT on Tuesday.
