PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) — Noah Fernandes scored 13 of his 19 points in the second half, Clifford Omoruyi added 17 points and eight rebounds and Rutgers cruised to its fifth straight win with a 71-40 victory over Saint Peter’s on Monday night.
Fernandez made 5 of 9 shots and all nine of his free throws for the Scarlet Knights (5-1), whose win streak has come at home. Omoruyi made 6 of 12 shots and blocked four at the other end. He is 12 points shy of becoming the 46th player in program history to top 1,000 for his career. Omoruyi passed Don Petersen for ninth place on Rutgers’ career rebound list with 721.
Derek Simpson had eight of his 10 points in the first half and Omoruyi scored seven with five rebounds to lead Rutgers to a 27-17 lead. Freshman reserve Armoni Zeigler scored six and the bench accounted for 10 first-half points for Saint Peter’s. The Peacocks shot 23.3% in the first half and the starters made 3 of 19 shots, including 1 of 7 from 3-point range.
A three-point play by Fernandes pushed Rutgers’ advantage to 20 seven minutes into the second half. The Scarlet Knights took their biggest lead at 69-32 on a pair of free throws by Oskar Palmquist with 3:39 left to play.
Michael Houge finished with 16 points and 12 rebounds to lead the Peacocks (1-4).
All five of the Scarlet Knights victories this season have been by double digits — three by 20 or more points.
Rutgers leads the all-time series 12-4, including a 10-3 record on its home floor. Saint Peter’s won the two previous matchups in the series with wins in 2012 and 2014. The Scarlet Knights’ last win over the Peacocks was 55-52 in December of 2010.
Rutgers will host Illinois on Saturday in an early Big Ten Conference game. Saint Peter’s will try to end a three-game skid on Friday at Niagara.
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