# 1988–89 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team

The 1988–89 Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's basketball team represented Rutgers University in the 1988–89 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The head coach was Bob Wenzel, then in his first season with the Scarlet Knights. The team played its home games in Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway Township, New Jersey, and was a member of the Atlantic-10 Conference. The Scarlet Knights finished 3rd in the conference's regular season standings, and would win the Atlantic-10 tournament to earn an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Rutgers fell to Iowa, 87–73, in the opening round.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 25, 1988* | | Rider | W 82–65 | 1–0 | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Dec 3, 1988 | | UMass | W 78–61 | 2–0 (1–0) | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Dec 5, 1988* | | Northwestern | L 69–75 | 2–1 | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Dec 10, 1988 | | at George Washington | W 88–71 | 3–1 (2–0) | Charles E. Smith Center Washington, D.C. |
| Dec 13, 1988* | | at No. 17 Seton Hall | L 70–96 | 3–2 | Brendan Byrne Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey |
| Dec 17, 1988* | | Princeton | W 69–63 | 4–2 | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Dec 27, 1988* | | No. 3 Syracuse | L 81–100 | 4–3 | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Dec 30, 1988* | | Lafayette | L 55–60 | 4–4 | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Jan 3, 1989* | | Miami (FL) | L 94–99 | 4–5 | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Jan 5, 1989 | | Rhode Island | W 87–77 | 5–5 (3–0) | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Jan 10, 1989 | | at Temple | L 79–85 | 5–6 (3–1) | McGonigle Hall Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Jan 14, 1989 | | at West Virginia | L 70–90 | 5–7 (3–2) | WVU Coliseum Morgantown, West Virginia |
| Jan 18, 1989* | | vs. St. John's | L 61–62 | 5–8 | Brendan Byrne Arena East Rutherford, New Jersey |
| Jan 21, 1989 | | Duquesne | W 102–87 | 6–8 (4–2) | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Jan 24, 1989* | | at Notre Dame | L 63–85 | 6–9 | Joyce Center Notre Dame, Indiana |
| Jan 28, 1989 | | at UMass | L 89–105 | 6–10 (4–3) | Curry Hicks Cage Amherst, Massachusetts |
| Jan 30, 1989 | | St. Bonaventure | W 79–50 | 7–10 (5–3) | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Feb 2, 1989 | | Penn State | W 87–83 | 8–10 (6–3) | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Feb 5, 1989 | | No. 18 West Virginia | L 58–60 | 8–11 (6–4) | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Feb 9, 1989 | | at Duquesne | W 79–74 | 9–11 (7–4) | A.J. Palumbo Center Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 11, 1989 | | Saint Joseph's | W 91–55 | 10–11 (8–4) | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Feb 13, 1989 | | at Penn State | L 65–93 | 10–12 (8–5) | Rec Hall University Park, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 18, 1989 | | George Washington | W 80–65 | 11–12 (9–5) | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Feb 20, 1989 | | at Saint Joseph's | W 76–74 | 12–12 (10–5) | Hagan Arena Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Feb 23, 1989 | | Temple | W 77–64 | 13–12 (11–5) | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| Feb 25, 1989 | | at St. Bonaventure | W 83–80 | 14–12 (12–5) | Reilly Center St. Bonaventure, New York |
| Mar 1, 1989 | | at Rhode Island | W 67–66 | 15–12 (13–5) | Keaney Gymnasium Kingston, Rhode Island |
| Atlantic-10 tournament ||||||
| Mar 5, 1989* | | vs. St. Bonaventure A-10 Tournament Quarterfinal | W 100–67 | 16–12 | Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Mar 6, 1989* | | at Temple A-10 Tournament Semifinal | W 62–59 | 17–12 | The Palestra Philadelphia, Pennsylvania |
| Mar 9, 1989* | | Penn State A-10 tournament championship | W 70–66 | 18–12 | Louis Brown Athletic Center Piscataway, New Jersey |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 17, 1989* | (13 E) | vs. (4 E) No. 14 Iowa First Round | L 73–87 | 18–13 | Providence Civic Center Providence, Rhode Island |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. ||||||