PISCATAWAY, N.J. -- Rutgers forward Deshawn Freeman and coach Steve Pikiell had some discussions about Freemans zero-rebound effort against Niagara, and whatever was said made a difference.Freeman followed up with 13 points and a career-high 15 rebounds as Rutgers defeated North Texas 66-53 in the Scarlet Knight Showcase on Wednesday night.I had no energy (against Niagara), said Freeman, who got his third double-double of the season. Grabbing rebounds gives me a lot of energy.Nigel Johnson and Mike Williams had 10 points each as the Scarlet Knights moved to 5-0 for the first time since 2000-01.Shane Temara had a career-high 16 points for the Mean Green (1-3), who lost their third straight. Deckie Johnson added 13 points and seven rebounds. North Texas played without second-leading scorer Jeremy Combs, who was resting a sore ankle.Trailing 25-24, Rutgers scored seven straight to start the second half and take the lead for good. Leading 43-40, the Scarlet Knights put it away with an 18-2 run to go up 61-42 with 2:52 remaining.The win was keyed by a hard-nosed defensive effort, which Pikiell preaches.I know you would say this game was a little bit ugly but I think it was beautiful, Pikiell said. We couldnt score and it didnt matter.North Texas coach Tony Benford liked how his team hung tough while playing short-handed.I thought we played hard, he said. We are down five scholarship guys. When we get our whole team back, we will be very competitive.BIG PICTURENorth Texas: The Mean Green allowed a season-low in points by holding Rutgers to 36.5 percent shooting (23 of 63), but only shot 33.3 percent (19 of 57) and were outrebounded 53-38. We wanted to do everything we could to control tempo and stay in the game, Benford said. I thought we did that early on, but we couldnt keep them off the glass.Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights have not defeated a team with a winning record yet, but their best start in 16 years earned them one vote in the AP poll. Rutgers has not been ranked since it finished No. 18 in the final poll of 1978-79. We dont talk about that, we talk about the team were playing and what we need to do, Pikiell said. People look at records, I look at tape. Rutgers entered the game among the national leaders in offensive rebounding (fifth, 18.25), rebounding margin (seventh, 18.5), and total rebounds (ninth, 48.5).GOOD AND BADThe 66 points tied a season-low for Rutgers and the 53 were the least it allowed this season.UGLY OFFENSERutgers made its first 3-pointer then missed 13 straight and finished 3 for 20 from behind the arc. North Texas had eight shots blocked, including five by Candido Sa.PLEASED TO MEET YOUThis was the first meeting between the two schools, and it left North Texas 1-10 against Big Ten competition.PIKIELL PERFECTAt 5-0, Pikiell continued to add to the best start for a Scarlet Knights coach beginning his tenure.UP NEXTNorth Texas: The Mean Green hosts Niagara on Friday to kick off a five-game homestand. North Texas plays nine of its first 12 games at home.Rutgers: The Scarlet Knights host Hartford Friday, and will attempt to go 6-0 for the first time since 1975-76, when the schools lone Final Four team won its first 31 games. Marc Gasol Jersey . Kiriasis and brakeman Franziska Fritz finished two runs in one minute 55.41 seconds -- a mere 0.01 seconds ahead of Meyers and Lolo Jones, who likely bolstered her Olympic hopes by helping give USA-1 a huge push in the second heat. Norman Powell Raptors Jersey . -- If Henry Burris has his way, he will be the starting quarterback to lead the Hamilton Tiger-Cats back to the Grey Cup next year. http://www.nbaraptorsonline.com/Authentic-Serge-Ibaka-Jersey/ . The team said Saturday that Lopez was hurt during its 121-120 overtime loss at Philadelphia on Friday. The Nets said they would issue another update next week after consultation with their doctors. Pascal Siakam Raptors Jersey . After taking two big hits this week -- losing at home and dropping back-to-back games for the first time all season -- Indiana struck back by playing its most complete game of the year. Kyle Lowry Raptors Jersey . The No. 1-ranked Nadal tweaked his back warming up for the Australian Open final, which he lost almost four weeks ago in a major upset against Stanislas Wawrinka. His first stop after the layoff is the clay in Rio as he tests the back and tries to stay healthy for the French Open in three months. OAKLAND, Calif. -- Some 90 minutes after his impressive night was through, Oakland rookie Sean Manaea waited on a clubhouse couch watching the innings wear on and hoped Coco Crisp would deliver when his chance came.The pitcher went crazy when Crisp singled home the winning run in the 13th inning for his eighth career game-ending RBI, and the Athletics beat the Tampa Bay Rays 1-0 on Friday night.Ryon Healy doubled to start the rally against Dylan Floro (0-1), and both Healy and Crisp tossed their batting helmets in the air after the win that took 3 hours, 31 minutes.Everybody was ready to get out of there, both teams -- pitchers, hitters, everybody, Crisp said. Its a little bit sweeter as the innings go on to close it out.John Axford (4-3) pitched the 12th and 13th innings for the win.Alonso hit a leadoff single in the 11th against Erasmo Ramirez and advanced on Healys sacrifice. Coco Crisp and Josh Reddick drew walks to load the bases. Kevin Jepsen entered and got Khris Davis to ground out.Both teams squandered scoring chances all night.Manaea struck out seven and didnt give up a walk in eight innings. He retired the first 14 batters he faced before Corey Dickersons two-out single to right field in the fifth for the Rays first baserunner.Kevin Kiermaier led off the eighth with a single and moved to second on Luke Mailes sacrifice -- just Tampa Bays second time reaching second -- and went to third on Logan Forsythes lineout. Manaea escaped unscathed when he retired Brandon Guyer on an inning-ending fly, and the pitcher pounded his hand into his glove to celebrate.That extended his scoreless streak over the past two starts to 15 innings.Hes pitched some good games, but not like that, manager Bob Melvin said. Thats the best.Rays starter Jake Odorizzi hung tough with Manaea in a duel of two promising young starters. The right-hander, who snapped a six-start winless streak last Sunday against Baltimore for his first win since June 8, matched his career high with eight innings.He allowed five hits in eight scoreless innings and didnt walk a batter for the third time this year.You saw two starting pitchers that had everything going, Rays manager Kevin Cash said. Thats probably wwhy we had such a speedy game for the first nine innings.dddddddddddd That guy gave us fits on the mound, the left-hander. Not a ton of good swings on our part. I say that in credit to him.Manaea struck out five of the first eight batters he faced and got a nice defensive play from Healy at third base to end the second. Healy sprinted into foul territory and made a sliding catch in front of As dugout on Dickersons popup.He hasnt won in three starts and three appearances since June 29 against San Francisco, but this was outing was notable nonetheless.It was the best start Ive had up here, Manaea said of his 13th career start. Everything was working.Manaea began his career with 12 straight starts but came out of the bullpen last Sunday when left-hander Rich Hill had to exit five pitches into his outing with a blister.TRAINERS ROOMRays: 1B Logan Morrison missed his fourth straight game, a day after receiving an injection in his injured forearm.Athletics: SS Marcus Semien -- the only As player who had start in every game over the first 96 contests -- was called earlier in the day by Melvin that he would receive a rare day off to get a mental and physical break but he entered in the eighth. His streak of consecutive starts to begin the season was the longest by an Oakland player since Miguel Tejada started all 162 games at shortstop in 2003. Semien has five errors over his last eight games after just eight in his initial 88. ... Hill was due to play catch again with protection on his middle finger.UP NEXTRays: LHP Drew Smyly (2-11, 5.64 ERA) pitches Saturday trying to snap an 0-7 record over his last 10 outings, the longest losing streak by a Rays starter since Chris Archer lost seven straight decisions from Sept. 6 last year to this past April 20. James Shields was the last Tampa Bay pitcher to drop seven in a row during a single season in 2010. Oakland has lost 10 of its last 11 games started by a left-handed opposing pitcher.Athletics: RHP Kendall Graveman (2-4, 6.49) is 5-0 with a 3.29 ERA over his last nine starts, a career-best winning streak. ' ' '