Corey Sanders and Mike Williams scored 15 points apiece and Deshawn Freeman grabbed 13 rebounds to lead Rutgers to its 10th win in the first 11 games of the Steve Pikiell coaching era, an 82-69 victory over in-state rival Fairleigh Dickinson on Wednesday.

The Scarlet Knights, who won only seven games last season, are off to the program's best start since 1975-76 as Pikiell, successful during his stay at Stony Brook, started his new job with a bang, posting the most successful coaching start in school history.

The Scarlet Knights led for most of a game that was close into the second half, winning their fourth straight and improving to 9-0 at home -- their best home start since 2001-02.

C.J. Gettys recorded 12 points, eight rebounds and four assists for Rutgers, while Candido Sa scored 11 points. Nigel Johnson, coming off a career-high 21 points in the win at Stony Brook on Saturday night, had eight points, seven assists and five rebounds.

Freeman had 10 of his rebounds in the first half.

Darian Anderson, averaging 19.4 points per game coming in, led the Knights (2-8) with 22 points as Fairleigh Dickinson, the defending Northeast Conference champion and the preseason pick to win it again, dropped its sixth straight. Anderson was 8 for 20 from the floor and 4 for 9 from 3-point range.

Mike Holloway scored 14 points and grabbed eight rebounds for the Knights, but was ejected from the game for a flagrant foul committed on Freeman with 4:36 left. That led to Rutgers scoring five points to open a 75-63 lead.

Earl Potts Jr. added 13 points for Fairleigh Dickinson.

The Scarlet Knights won despite going 14 for 29 from the foul line, with Johnson missing all five of his attempts.

Each team committed only eight turnovers.