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Smoking Scoreboard Delays Northwestern-Rutgers Men’s Basketball Game

The Wildcats and Scarlet Knights gave new meaning to ‘combustible atmosphere.’
Patrick Andres|
Smoking Scoreboard Delays Northwestern-Rutgers Men’s Basketball Game
Smoking Scoreboard Delays Northwestern-Rutgers Men’s Basketball Game

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Rutgers Scarlet KnightsNorthwestern Wildcats

The Big Ten, as a men’s basketball league, produces a healthy combination of barn burners and tire fires every year.

This, however, may be the century-old league’s most literal fire yet.

Sunday evening’s game between Northwestern and Rutgers at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J. was held up for seven minutes when the Scarlet Knights’ scoreboard began smoking.

With 3:57 left in the first half and the Wildcats nursing a 19–14 lead, officials gathered on the court and temporarily halted the contest, with the announcers noting that Rutgers athletic director Pat Hobbs and the local fire marshal had both gotten involved.

Luckily, no one appeared to be hurt.

The scoreboard, seemingly no worse for the wear, was turned off and the final four minutes of the first half played without it. Bidding for the No. 2 seed in the Big Ten tournament next week in Chicago, Northwestern entered intermission with a slim 25–21 lead.

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Patrick Andres
PATRICK ANDRES

Patrick Andres is a staff writer on the Breaking and Trending News team at Sports Illustrated. He joined SI in December 2022, having worked for The Blade, Athlon Sports, Fear the Sword and Diamond Digest. Andres has covered everything from zero-attendance Big Ten basketball to a seven-overtime college football game. He is a graduate of Northwestern University's Medill School of Journalism with a double major in history .

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