# 2008–09 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team

The 2008–09 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represented Rutgers University in the 2008–09 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Fred Hill, then in his 3rd season with the Scarlet Knights. The team played its home games in Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway Township, New Jersey, and is a member of the Big East Conference. The Scarlet Knights finished 15th in the conference's regular season, and were defeated in the first round in the Big East tournament, falling to Notre Dame 61–50.

## Preseason
### Recruiting

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Gregory Echenique C | Guatire | St. Benedict's Prep | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 263 lb (119 kg) | Mar 24, 2008 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Patrick Jackson SF | New York City, New York | Boys & Girls HS | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Oct 20, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 87 ||||||
| Christian Morris C | South Kent, Connecticut | South Kent School | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 270 lb (120 kg) | Jul 16, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 76 ||||||
| Mike Rosario SG | Jersey City, New Jersey | St. Anthony HS | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Apr 6, 2007 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: Rivals: 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 96 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: 19 Rivals: 30 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Rutgers 2008 Basketball Commitments". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. "2008 Rutgers Basketball Commits". Scout.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. "Rutgers Basketball Recruiting 2008". ESPN.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. "2008 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved March 29, 2010. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| November 14* 7:30 pm | Caldwell | W 91–56 | | RAC (2,264) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Regular season ||||||
| November 14* 8:00 pm | Marist Garden State Challenge | W 63–61 | 1–0 | RAC (4,822) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| November 16* 4:00 pm | at Delaware Garden State Challenge | W 85–77 | 2–0 | Bob Carpenter Center (3,381) Newark, Delaware |
| November 21* 8:00 pm | Robert Morris Garden State Challenge | W 69–55 | 3-0 | RAC (4,752) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| November 23* 2:00 pm, SNY | St. Bonaventure Garden State Challenge | L 63–64 $^{OT}$ | 3–1 | RAC (4,018) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| November 26* 7:30 pm | Lehigh | L 71–76 | 3–2 | RAC (4,399) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| November 30* 2:00 pm | Saint Peter's | W 68–47 | 4–2 | RAC (3,864) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| December 3* 7:00 pm | at Rider | W 66–62 | 5–2 | Sovereign Bank Arena (3,126) Trenton, New Jersey |
| December 6* 2:00 pm | Binghamton | L 56–66 | 5–3 | RAC (4,076) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| December 10* 7:00 pm | at Princeton Rivalry | W 49–47 | 6–3 | Jadwin Gymnasium (2,912) Princeton, New Jersey |
| December 14* 2:00 pm | Delaware State | W 60–55 | 7–3 | RAC (2,967) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| December 20* 2:00 pm | Bryant | W 67–37 | 8–3 | RAC (3,077) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| December 23* 7:30 pm | NJIT | W 78–52 | 9–3 | RAC (2,319) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| December 28* 7:45 pm, FSN/MSG+ | at No. 1 North Carolina | L 75–97 | 9–4 | Dean Smith Center (21,750) Chapel Hill, North Carolina |
| December 31 2:00 pm, MSG+/ESPN360 | No. 3 Pittsburgh | L 72–78 | 9–5 (0–1) | RAC (6,308) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| January 3 7:00 pm, SNY | at No. 2 Connecticut | L 49–80 | 9–6 (0–2) | Harry A. Gampel Pavilion (10,167) Storrs, Connecticut |
| January 7 7:30 pm, MSG+ | No. 15 Marquette | L 76–81 | 9–7 (0–3) | RAC (4,112) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| January 10 7:30 pm, SNY | No. 11 Syracuse | L 66–82 | 9–8 (0–4) | RAC (8,079) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| January 14 7:30 pm, SNY | at Cincinnati | L 59–71 | 9–9 (0–5) | Fifth Third Arena (6,723) Cincinnati |
| January 21 7:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 9 Louisville | L 59–78 | 9–10 (0–6) | RAC (5,178) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| January 24 7:00 pm, MSG+/ESPN360 | at St. John's | L 59–70 | 9–11 (0–7) | Madison Square Garden (7,890) New York City |
| January 29 9:00 pm, ESPN2/ESPN360 | at Seton Hall | L 67–70 | 9–12 (0–8) | Prudential Center (8,390) Newark, New Jersey |
| January 31 8:00 pm, ESPNU | DePaul | W 75–56 | 10–12 (1–8) | RAC (5,020) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| February 3 7:00 pm, SNY | at Georgetown | L 47–57 | 10–13 (1–9) | Verizon Center (8,473) Washington, D.C. |
| February 8 12:00 pm, ESPNU | Seton Hall | L 60–65 | 10–14 (1–10) | RAC (6,504) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| February 14 7:00 pm, SNY | at Providence | L 68–78 | 10–15 (1–11) | Dunkin' Donuts Center (11,246) Providence, Rhode Island |
| February 19 9:00 pm, ESPN2 | at No. 12 Villanova | L 72–82 | 10–16 (1–12) | The Pavilion (6,500) Villanova, Pennsylvania |
| February 22 3:00 pm, SNY | West Virginia | L 56–74 | 10–17 (1–13) | RAC (5,281) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| February 25 7:00 pm, ESPNU | at Notre Dame | L 65–70 | 10–18 (1–14) | Edmund P. Joyce Center (10,203) Notre Dame, Indiana |
| March 1 2:00 pm, ESPNU | Providence | L 66–73 | 10–19 (1–15) | RAC (5,122) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| March 3 9:00 pm, ESPNU | at No. 25 Syracuse | L 40–70 | 10–20 (1–16) | Carrier Dome (21,233) Syracuse, New York |
| March 7 2:00 pm, ESPN360 | South Florida | W 45–42 | 11–20 (2–16) | RAC (4,114) Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Big East tournament ||||||
| March 10 7:00 pm, MSG | vs. Notre Dame First Round | L 61–50 | 11–21 | Madison Square Garden (19,375) New York City, New York |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from Coaches' Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. ||||||