Corey Sanders walked over to the Rutgers student section and flapped his arms for more noise.

He might as well have been waving them onto the court.

Seconds later, Rutgers fans stormed the court to celebrate a 71-65 upset victory over in-state rival No. 15 Seton Hall in a Saturday matinee in front of the largest crowd (8,318) at a sold-out Rutgers Athletics Center in 15 years.

"This is our state!" the crowd chanted after ending a four-game losing streak in the series and earning the biggest win of coach Steve Pikiell's two-year tenure.

"Nobody gave us a lot of chances in this game," Pikiell said. "We figured out a way to win. We played with good swagger and intensity."

This installment of the Garden State Hardwood Classic was a emotional classic indeed, as Rutgers captured the boardwalk plank trophy for the first time in its four-year history.

"The last three years, it's eluded me," Rutgers senior Mike Williams said, "so it's the best feeling in the world."

Sanders (22 points and terrific defense) and Geo Baker (17 points, four rebounds and four assists) played to the equal of Seton Hall's star-studded foursome.

"I loved his defense," Pikiell said. "We talked about taking his matchups personal. I thought he really had great poise down the stretch."

Sanders, who earned Joe Calabrese MVP honors for the rivalry game, gave Rutgers (10-3) its first lead, 65-63, with two free throws at the 2:22 mark and drained a jump shot to push the lead to four.

The freshly minted 1,000-point scorer let out a guttural scream at midcourt that couldn't be heard by anyone not within inches of him because the crowd noise drowned it out.

"When the place is rocking like this," Pikiell said, "it's a tough place to play."

Tensions flared in the first half, but gave way to tense moments in the second.

None more so than when Seton Hall's Myles Powell's potential game-tying 3 from the wing with less than 10 seconds remaining rimmed in and out and Mike Williams skied for the rebound. He made 1-of-2 free throws to seal the upset.

"We're not out there to be friends, we're not out there to be buddy-buddy," Seton Hall's Ish Sanogo said of the trash talking. "I don't like anybody on their team. That's how it's supposed to be."

Rutgers outscored Seton Hall, 22-7, at the free-throw line, with three times as many attempts (34-11). The home team was bailed out of bad spots by the whistle on a few occasions.

"I didn't have the whistle," Seton Hall coach Kevin Willard said when asked to explain the disparity.

Seton Hall (9-2) was led by 18 points from Powell, 15 from Desi Rodriguez and 21 rebounds from Angel Delgado, who didn't get a double-double because he managed just seven points.

"We couldn't handle the pressure," Powell said.

Trailing 51-41 with about 15 minutes to go, Rutgers missed four shots on one possession, including three from point-blank range by two different players and an air-balled jumper by a third.

Those kind of missed opportunities could have haunted the Scarlet Knights, but the Pirates let up.

"When you have the enemy down and you have the foot on their neck," Seton Hall's Ish Sanogo said, "keep your foot on their neck and crush their throats."

Five minutes later, Rutgers tied the score at 52-52 on a one-handed dunk offensive rebound by Eugene Omoruyi as he ran through the lane un-boxed out from the top of the circle and a pull-up jumper from Baker.

Then Rutgers slipped into a four-plus minute drought.

But Seton Hall responded with a 7-0 lead, starting with Powell's 3 to break a 54-54 tie. When Sanogo hit a baseline jump shot and blocked a shot at the other end, it felt like the game effectively was over.

It wasn't.

Rutgers scored nine of the next 11 points to tie the score at 63-63 with 2:30 to play and the home team's fight song echoing.

Sanogo, a defensive wiz, was responsible for the nightmare shooting performance by Deshawn Freeman, who went 3-of-14 mostly around the cylinder. He had 16 rebounds.

Seton Hall jumped out to a 13-6 by sinking five of its first nine shots and doubled up Rutgers, 26-13, midway through the first half.

Baker drilled an off-balance shot clock-beating 3 but Rodriguez quickly answered with his own 3 as the seconds ticked away. He turned and put his finger to his lips to "Shhh" the student section.

Moments later, Khadeen Carrington drove the lane for a basket and a foul, flexing his muscles toward a cluster of Seton Hall fans.

Cast as an antagonist, Rodriguez played the role perfectly. He chirped at players during dead balls and picked up a double technical with Omoruyi in the first half, getting under the skin of opponents and fans alike.

When Rutgers made a run to close to 31-25, Seton Hall called a timeout and the RAC exploded as Oasis' 90s hit "Wonderwall" had bouncing students shaking their seats.

They still were until the final minute of the half, when Seton Hall closed with back-to-back baskets, including a reverse jam in the open-court by Myles Cale to suck out the energy and open up a 42-32 lead.

It was a fitting end to a half played at the kind of frenzied pace that greatly favors Seton Hall. The Pirates shot 47.2 percent and held Rutgers to 36.4 percent.

Fastbreaks still were aplenty in the second half, but points were harder to come by, which is the ugly style that often suits the underdog in rivalries.

The glass is supposed to be a strength of poor-shooting Rutgers, which came into the game leading the nation in rebounds and offensive rebounds.

But, just like last year, Seton Hall offset Rutgers' strength because of Delgado's rebounding prowess.

There were signs of the game's importance before tip-off: Rutgers athletics director Pat Hobbs was at the end of the layup line shaking hands, Delgado gave a firm forearm to the armored Scarlet Knight when he got in the way of Seton Hall's layup line, and Rutgers played intentionally loud and disruptive opera music over the PA system when Seton Hall was on the court alone.

Calabrese, the MVP trophy's namesake, was a longtime New Jersey sportswriter, including for The Star-Ledger, who covered Rutgers athletics for more than 40 years until his death in 1999.

Ryan Dunleavy may be reached at rdunleavy@njadvancemedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @rydunleavy. Find NJ.com Rutgers Football on Facebook.