Freshman guard Eli Carter scored a career-high 21 points and Mike Poole added 14 as Rutgers pulled away from visiting Monmouth en route to a 81-66 victory on Monday.

Gilvydas Biruta and Dane Miller combined for 25 points for the Scarlet Knights (5-5), who snapped a two-game home losing streak to pull back to .500.

The Hawks (2-9) had won two in a row after dropping their first eight games and led early, holding Rutgers to 38 percent shooting in the first half. But Carter capped a 13-point frame when he converted a traditional three-point play, giving the Scarlet Knights a 30-27 lead at the break.

Rutgers came out of the locker room strong and began to pull away, shooting 55 percent in the second half as Miller and Biruta began to assume more of the offensive responsibility. The Scarlet Knights pushed the lead to 20 points before pulling the starters in the final minutes.

Rutgers had dropped four of five and averaged 53.5 points in back-to-back home losses last week.

Will Campbell was the only player to reach double figures with 13 points for Monmouth, which is enduring a stretch with nine of 11 games on the road.