PISCATAWAY – The most formidable opponent Rutgers star guard Dylan Harper has faced in recent days isn’t one he battled on the court.
The heralded freshman guard was hit by a bad strain of the flu, stripping him of energy, a considerable amount of weight – not to mention the three losses the Scarlet Knights suffered while Harper was limited.
But Harper on Monday night was the closest to his usual self as he’s been in a while. Rutgers needed it.
The results showed.
Harper drained consecutive three-pointers to start the second half, sparking Rutgers to a badly needed 75-68 victory over UCLA at Jersey Mike’s Arena.
“I’m not going to be 100 percent right away, but just trying to get better each and every day,” Harper said. “One percent a day.”
The win snapped the Scarlet Knights’ three-game losing streak, while also extending the Bruins’ losing streak to four games as their promising start to the season continues to be flushed away.
Harper finished with 18 points, four rebounds and four assists, but was limited a good portion of the second half because of foul trouble.
Regardless, Harper did enough in what was one of Rutgers’ best all-around performances of the season.
The Scarlet Knights (9-8, 2-4 Big Ten) shot 46.2 percent from the field, while UCLA shot 42.4 percent (the Bruins were just 6-of-19 from long distance).
Rutgers extended its lead to nine points with five minutes to go, but struggled to put UCLA away. The Bruins cut it to four with three minutes remaining and it was tight until the end.
But the Scarlet Knights held on.
Coach Steve Pikiell said his team was “connected” all game.
“The guys know we’ve got to figure it out. We’re at the halfway mark. We practiced well for two days,” Pikiell said. “The way they were communicating on the bench and in the huddles was just fantastic. We’re growing up right in front of us. We were able to be rewarded today for being able to do all the things you need to do to be a good basketball team.”
But having a healthy (or at least healthier) Harper was paramount.
The Don Bosco Prep product said he lost close to nine pounds while he was ill, but is gaining that back day by day.
“It was bad,” Harper said of the flu. “You saw me on the Indiana bench – I was going through it on the Indiana bench. I wish I was out there with my guys for that game. But stuff happens for a reason. My name was called and I was ready to go.”
The first half ended with UCLA leading 33-30 – Rutgers cut it to three when Bailey threw down an alley-oop dunk on a lob from Harper that brought the crowd to its feet with 26 seconds to go in the half.
The Scarlet Knights never led before halftime, but they were within seven points the entire first half.
Five takeaways
1. Starting lineup revamp with a freshman infusion
Pikiell shook things up by inserting freshmen forward Dylan Grant into the starting five – that meant four freshmen in total started with Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey and Lathan Somerville (making his second-straight start) joining Grant.
Guard Tyson Acuff, the grad transfer from Eastern Michigan, also received his first start of the season.
Acuff had three points in 15 minutes while Grant had three points and two rebounds in 24 minutes.
“They’ve been great in practice so they earned that opportunity,” Pikiell said. “They gave us good minutes.”
2. Zach Martini plays significant minutes
It hasn’t been the easiest few weeks for Martini, whose playing time has been relatively limited.
But the Princeton transfer forward saw 13 minutes against UCLA and was a game-best plus-11.
Martini finished with four points (he drained a three-pointer about eight minutes into the first half) and one rebound in 13 minutes while playing sound defense – his production may not jump off the box score, but his contributions were valuable for Rutgers on this night.
“I thought he was fantastic,” Pikiell said. “He had two great practices leading up to this. He’s able to stretch the floor and do some things for us. I thought he was locked in.”
3. “RAC Magic” returns
The environment inside Jersey Mike’s Arena returned to the loud, raucous atmosphere that’s helped give Rutgers one of the best homecourt advantages in the nation.
It made a difference.
“Thankful for our fans, they were great,” Pikiell said. “Gave us a great edge.”
That wasn’t the case for Thursday’s blowout loss to Purdue, where the RAC was pretty quiet for a lot of the night.
Rutgers on Monday night also held a moment of silence for the victims of the wildfires in Los Angeles.
4. What it means
This was a Quad 2 win for Rutgers – UCLA entered the day ranked No. 32 in the NET. It’s undoubtedly the Scarlet Knights’ most significant win of the season.
How much it helps them dig out of their NCAA Tournament hole remains to be seen, but it’s really too early to even begin thinking about the Big Dance.
At this point, Rutgers just needs to win games. A lot of them. And that’s to even make sure it makes the Big Ten tournament, let alone the NCAA Tournament.
Beating UCLA helped. Now the Scarlet Knights need to start stacking victories.
5. Up next
Rutgers will hit the road again to play Nebraska in Lincoln on Thursday (9 p.m. ET, FS1), the first of two straight road games (the Scarlet Knights play at Penn State on Jan. 20).
The Cornhuskers are 12-4 overall and 2-3 against Big Ten competition, with their conference wins coming against Indiana and UCLA.
