PISCATAWAY (Interstat) — Jamichael Davis scored 13 points and Christian Gurdak added 12 points and four rebounds as Rutgers pulled away from New Haven for an 81-54 men’s NCAA Division I basketball victory on Friday at Louis Brown Center. Rutgers improved to 1-0. New Haven dropped to 0-2. The Scarlet Knights never trailed after moving ahead 4-2 in the opening minutes and used a 12-0 first-half run to take control before an announced attendance of 8,000.

Teshaun Steele, a 6-foot-7 forward from Worcester, Mass., who previously attended Darrow School, led New Haven with 15 points, eight rebounds, three assists and four blocks. Jamichael Davis, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound guard who previously attended McEachern High School, added 13 points, five rebounds and one assist for Rutgers. Christian Gurdak, a 6-foot-10, 260-pound center who previously attended Gonzaga College High School, had 12 points, four rebounds and three assists. Zoumana Traore, a 6-foot-8 guard who previously attended Millbrook School, scored 15 points and grabbed five rebounds for the Chargers. Darin Smith, a 6-foot-7, 210-pound forward who previously attended Vermont Academy, had nine points, six rebounds and one assist for the Scarlet Knights. RaSheed Jones, a 6-foot-6 guard who previously attended Marion High School, scored 14 points and had one rebound. Aidan Losiewicz, a 6-foot-3 guard who previously attended Newman School, had 10 points and one rebound for New Haven. Tariq Francis, a 6-foot-1, 180-pound guard who previously attended First Love Christian Academy, scored 14 points with one rebound and two assists. Bradley Ballinger, a 6-foot-7 forward who previously attended International School, had six points, two rebounds, one assist and one block. Darren Buchanan, a 6-foot-7 guard who previously attended Jackson-Reed, added five points, three rebounds, three assists and one block.

Rutgers shot 30 of 60 from the floor, including 9 of 23 from 3-point range, and made 12 of 18 free throws. New Haven was 20 of 50 overall, 7 of 20 from beyond the arc and 7 of 8 at the line. The Scarlet Knights held edges in offensive rebounds 11-6, assists 10-7 and turnovers 11-16. New Haven committed 18 fouls to Rutgers’s 10 and blocked five shots. Rutgers scored 81 points from 69 possessions for an offensive rating of 118.2. New Haven scored 54 points from 64 possessions for an offensive rating of 84.6.

Darren Buchanan opened the scoring with a dunk before Zoumana Traore hit a 3-pointer for New Haven’s only lead at 3-2 with 17:41 left in the first half. Rutgers answered with Tariq Francis’s pullup, Christian Gurdak’s layup, a Steele layup that tied it at 6 and a Traore free throw that made it 6-6. Rutgers then turned the tie into an 18-6 lead as Mervedi Miteo converted a layup and free throw, RaSheed Jones hit a 3-pointer and Jamichael Davis and Darin Smith added baskets during the run. New Haven pulled to 22-15 on Bradley Ballinger’s 3-pointer and to 24-18 on Steele’s 3-pointer. Rutgers closed the first half on a 9-2 spurt, getting a 3-pointer from Jones, an alley-oop from Davis, another Davis 3-pointer and a late Moussa Camara hook shot for New Haven, to lead 39-23 at halftime. New Haven scored 23 first-half points and 31 after halftime, while Rutgers scored 39 before the break and 42 in the second half.

Rutgers kept the pressure on after halftime. Gurdak made two free throws, Lino Mark hit a 3-pointer and Gurdak added two more free throws before Darin Smith’s tip-in and Tariq Francis’s 3-pointer made it 51-25. New Haven’s Teshaun Steele made a layup and Zoumana Traore scored to cut the lead to 51-29. Jamichael Davis answered with a driving layup, Bradley Ballinger hit a 3-pointer and Gurdak dunked for Rutgers. RaSheed Jones hit a 3-pointer, Aidan Losiewicz answered with a 3-pointer, and Gurdak made a layup before two Davis free throws made it 62-35. Will Sydnor made a layup for Rutgers, Losiewicz scored a layup, and Jones hit another 3-pointer for a 67-37 lead. Losiewicz made a 3-pointer, Tim Walker hit a pullup jumper and Losiewicz dunked as New Haven pulled to 67-44. Darin Smith made a jumper, Steele made a layup and dunk, and Gurdak made a layup for a 71-48 Rutgers lead. Tristan Burth scored for New Haven, Davis made a driving layup and Smith hit a 3-pointer to push the margin to 76-50. Tim Walker made two free throws, Tariq Francis converted a layup and free throw, Imahri Wooten hit a pullup jumper and Zoumana Traore’s turnaround jumper closed the scoring.

New Haven opened its season with a 74-58 loss at Syracuse. The Chargers are scheduled to host Army and then visit Penn State. Rutgers is set to host NJIT and Bryant before playing Houston and Notre Dame in Las Vegas. New Haven also has upcoming home games against MCLA, New Hampshire, Mitchell, Columbia, Medgar Evers and NJIT, along with a trip to Lindenwood and Delaware State. Rutgers later hosts Sacred Heart, Michigan, Seton Hall, Saint Peter’s and Army and visits Indiana.

Interstat’s game simulator had projected a final score of Rutgers 71, New Haven 64. Interstat’s ELO system had projected Rutgers with a 94.7 percent probability to win. Rutgers had been installed as a pregame favorite with a spread of -24.5. The total score of 135 went over the over/under line of 138.