Tariq Francis poured in 20 points, Dylan Grant added 17 points and seven rebounds and host Rutgers pulled away to beat in-state opponent Rider 81-53 on Wednesday in Piscataway, N.J.
The Scarlet Knights also got 15 points and six boards from Jamichael Davis and 11 points from Darren Buchanan Jr. in their season-opening win. Emmanuel Ogbole collected 10 rebounds without scoring a point.
Rutgers hit five 3-pointers in the opening stages to take the lead for good. The Scarlet Knights shot just 39.1% from the field but held Rider (0-2) to a woeful 27.7% mark.
Caleb Smith had 14 points and 10 rebounds and Zion Cruz scored 11 points for the Broncs, who missed 18 of their 20 3-point attempts. Rider opened its season Monday with a 34-point loss at Virginia.
Wednesday marked the Rutgers debuts of Francis, who transferred from NJIT, and Buchanan, who came from George Washington.
A 13-point run for the hosts, fueled by two 3-pointers from Francis and one from Davis, gave Rutgers an early 16-5 lead.
Soon after that, Rutgers fell into a rut and missed 10 shots in a row. Rider only managed to score seven points during that period, closing the gap to 20-18 before Grant’s jumper ended the drought after five minutes and 18 seconds.
Davis and Francis knocked down late triples to extend Rutgers’ advantage to 35-24 at halftime.
Grant took over and scored seven points in the first four minutes of the second half, starting with a three-point play and concluding with a baseline dunk.
Later, Rutgers ripped off another 12 points in a row, and when Davis converted a three-point play with 8:57 left, the Scarlet Knights had their first 30-point lead at 66-36.
Also debuting for Rutgers were European signings Harun Zrno (seven points, two 3-pointers) and Denis Badalau (five points, seven rebounds).
