Nigel Johnson scored 21 points and visiting Rutgers went on a 15-0 second-half run before holding off Stony Brook 71-66 and giving coach Steve Pikiell a victory in his return to the Long Island campus on Saturday night.

Pikiell took Stony Brook to the postseason six times in the last seven seasons, the Seawolves going 119-48 in the last five. His final game was against Kentucky in the NCAA Tournament and he left 11 days later to try to rebuild the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers won its first six games under Pikiell before losing at Miami. The Knights throttled Central Connecticut 79-37 Tuesday night, giving Pikiell his 200th win as a head coach.

Saturday night, the Knights improved to 9-1 by rallying from nine points down in the second half to win despite not scoring a field goal over the final 7:59.

Down three, Stony Brook had a chance to tie but UC Iroegbu missed a 3-pointer after the Seawolves called a timeout with six seconds remaining. Mike Williams grabbed the rebound and clinched the victory with two free throws with three seconds remaining.

Corey Sanders added 13 points and Deshawn Freeman had eight points and 12 rebounds for the Scarlet Knights, who shot 49.1 percent from the field in the game.

Akwasi Yeboah led the Seawolves with 18 points, Roland Nyama added 17 and Lucas Woodhouse added nine points and six rebounds.

Stony Brook took only seven free throws in the game, making five, while Rutgers was 13-for-18 from the foul line. The Scarlets Knights also won the boards battle, out-rebounding the home team 38-27.

Stony Brook, which came in 10th in the nation in fewest turnovers per game - 10.4 - was guilty of just 11 miscues but still lost for the second time in its last five games.