Jonathan Mitchell had 22 points and six rebounds as Rutgers easily defeated Fairleigh Dickinson 79-65 on Tuesday night.
Dane Miller added 13 points, nine rebounds, five assists and three blocked shots for the Scarlet Knights (7-2), who improved to 6-0 at home for the first time since 2005 and defeated Fairleigh Dickinson for the ninth time in 10 meetings.
The Knights (3-6), who lost their third straight, got 23 points from Mike Scott and 13 from Briahn Smith.
Rutgers, which also got 11 points and six rebounds from Gilvydas Biruta and nine points and six assists from Mike Coburn, used a late first-half run to take a 15-point halftime lead. The Scarlet Knights then went on a 7-2 run at the start of the second half to take a 47-27 advantage, and led by no less than 10 the rest of the way.
Rutgers shot 51.9 percent and had 22 assists on 28 baskets.
Rutgers, which led by as many as 21, 62-41, took a 40-25 halftime lead after Fairleigh committed 15 turnovers and shot just 8-for-22 (36.4 percent). Mitchell powered the Scarlet Knights, scoring 17 points on 8-for-9 shooting. He finished 10-for-15.
The Knights hit 6 of 14 from 3-point range to hang around for a while, cutting a 14-3 deficit to 14-12 and 17-16. Mitchell then hit a putback to start Rutgers on a 23-9 run over the final 8:36 of the first half.
With the score 35-25, Mitchell hit two straight baskets to help the Scarlet Knights to their 15-point halftime edge. Rutgers shot 53.3 percent in the half and had nine steals.
Fairleigh Dickinson shot just 32.6 percent (15-for-46) for the game and committed 23 turnovers.
