It was a tough afternoon for No. 24 Rutgers Basketball as its comeback fell short and it lost to Kennesaw State 79-77 in the KSU Convocation Center.
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After falling behind by as much as 21 points early in the second half, Rutgers (4-1) spent the rest of the game trying to chip away at Kennesaw State's lead and cut it to a 79-77 game with 15 seconds remaining following a layup from Dylan Harper. The Owls (5-1) were able to hang on though as Ace Bailey turned the ball over in the closing moments to seal the game.
It was a homecoming Bailey would likely like to forget as he finished with 17 points on 6-for-17 shooting, but did not heat up until late in the game. Despite his struggles, Bailey scored six of Rutgers' last 10 points, including a 3-pointer to cut it to a 77-75 game with 50 seconds remaining.
The Scarlet Knights cut it to a 70-65 game with 5:45 left in the second half after a layup by Harper. Kennesaw State answered though with a 6-0 run to balloon its lead to 11 with 3:10 to go.
Harper did everything he could to help the Scarlet Knights claw back into the game as he scored a game-high 21 points and nine assists while shooting 10-for-18 from the field. Emauel Ogbole also recorded 10 points while PJ Hayes had eight points and five rebounds. Jeremiah Williams netted eight points.
Rutgers picked up its defense in the second half after allowing Kennesaw State to shoot 50 percent (18-for-36) from the floor in the first and forced the Owls into 22 turnovers on the day. It was not enough though as Kennesaw State finished 47 percent (28-for-60) from the field and out-rebounded the Scarlet Knights 46-27, including 14 offensive boards.
Kennesaw State had four players record double figures as Jamil Miller recorded a double-double with 16 points and 10 rebounds on 6-for-7 shooting while Simeon Cottle had 15 points, four rebounds, and three assists. Ricardo Wright tallied 14 points while Adrian Wooley had 10 points and seven assists.
Rutgers had a tough time getting anything going offensively in the first half as it shot 28 percent (9-for-32) from the field. Bailey led the way with eight points, despite shooting 3-for-10 from the floor.
Rutgers jumped out to a 9-4 lead with 15:33 remaining in the first half following a jumper from Harper, but it was all Kennesaw State from that point forward as it outscored the Scarlet Knights 40-17 to take a 44-26 lead into halftime.
Wooley recorded eight points and five assists for Kennesaw State in the opening half while Miller had eight points and seven rebounds.
UP NEXT...
Rutgers will travel to Las Vegas to face Notre Dame in the Players Era Festival on Tuesday at 10:30 p.m. (ET) on TBS.
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