Rutgers Tops Pittsburgh

1/25/1997

PISCATAWAY, N.J. (AP) - After being outplayed by his brother Ricardo in their first meeting, freshman Jeff Greer had 19 points and seven assists as Rutgers took an 87-65 Big East victory over Pittsburgh Sunday. Rutgers held Ricardo Greer to eight points.

Eric Clark tied a career-high with 20 points, Rob Hodgson added 20 points and eight rebounds and Geoff Billet had 16 points as Rutgers (8-9, 2-7) snapped a four-game losing streak.

The Scarlet Knights shot 58 percent for the game and 70 percent in the second half.

Pittsburgh (7-7, 2-5) got a combined 28 points from Jarrett Lockhart, Vonteego Cummings and Ricardo Greer. They had scored 22 apiece in the Panthers' overtime victory against Rutgers last Saturday. The trio shot 10-for-28 and 4-for-14 from 3-point range.

Jeff Greer had just nine points and one rebound in Rutgers' loss to the Panthers, but scored 13 in the first half Sunday, helping Rutgers establish a 39-29 halftime lead.

Pittsburgh battled from first-half deficits of 9-4, 15-6 and 17-11 to tie the score at 19-19 with 6:38 remaining. Jeff Greer then began a 20-10 run for Rutgers by hitting a followup shot and 3-pointer to make it 24-19.

During the run, Greer had nine points and an assist. He also blocked two of his brother's shots, the second leading to a fast-break layup by Billet.

Rutgers scored nine straight to take a 48-29 lead at the start of the second half. Pittsburgh got no closer than 50-38.

Isaac Hawkins led Pittsburgh with 19 points and Lockhart had 12. Cummings, who entered with a 20.4 scoring average, had just eight points.