Rutgers beats New Haven 81-54 for acting head coach Brandin Knight's 1st victory

Rasheed Jones and Tariq Francis each scored 14 points, and Rutgers opened its season with an 81-54 victory over New Haven to give acting head coach Brandin Knight his first victoryByThe Associated PressNovember 6, 2026, 9:11 PMPISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Rasheed Jones and Tariq Francis each scored 14 points, and Rutgers opened its season with an 81-54 victory over New Haven on Friday night to give acting head coach Brandin Knight his first victory.Jones made his first four 3-point attempts and Rutgers finished 9 of 23 (39%) from distance in Knight’s first official game in place of head coach Steve Pikiell, who is receiving cancer treatment. Jones' fourth 3-pointer gave the Scarlet Knights their largest lead of the game at 67-37. Francis' only 3-pointer capped a 10-0 run early in the second half for a 51-25 lead as New Haven went the first three minutes without a field goal. Jamichael Davis added 13 points and Christian Gurdak had 12 for Rutgers. Francis averaged 17.0 points last season, and his 578 points were the most by a Scarlet Knight since Quincy Douby in 2005-06.Teshaun Steele and Zoumana Traore each scored 15 points for New Haven (1-1), which is in its second season in Division I and the NEC and the second year of a three-year transition from Division II. Aidan Losiewicz added 10 points. The Chargers opened Monday with a 74-58 loss at Syracuse in Gerry McNamara’s debut as Orange head coachPopular ReadsNew Haven: Returns home to play Army on Tuesday. Rutgers: Hosts NJIT on Tuesday. ___Sign up for Top 25 poll alerts here, visit the Top 25 here and see AP’s full men’s basketball coverage hereSponsored Content by Taboola