Take a bow.
Ron Harper Jr. swished a 3-pointer from the left with two seconds left to lift the Rutgers men's basketball team past Indiana, 66-63, on Wednesday night at Assembly Hall in Bloomington, IN.
"I felt like I was in rhythm. I got good rotation on the ball and it was right on line," Harper Jr. said. "I just saw it go up and I was like it was good."
The Julius Erving Award finalist silenced the crown in an instant.
"That's the best," he said. "Hitting a shot at home is great, but I feel like a buzzer-beater or game-winner on the road is even better. The fans were roaring those last couple of minutes and they hit that big three and a place kind of just erupted. To hear it go from 100 to zero, that's just the best thing about it."
It's the second notable last-second shot that Harper Jr. has hit against a team from Indiana. The senior made a half court heave at the buzzer to upset then-No. 1 Purdue at Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway.
"He just has gotten better his whole career," Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said. "He wants to take those shots and felt really comfortable. I had a timeout, but I felt good. He liked the matchup too win. He played great defense and he's made a lot of great plays for us in his career."
Rutgers came back from 10 points down and outscored the Hoosiers in the second half 41-31. The win gives Rutgers an 17-12 overall record and a 11-8 mark in Big Ten play. More importantly, the Scarlet Knights notch a Quad 1 road victory which helps their NCAA Tournament resume. They entered the game ranked 81st in the NET, 74th per KenPom, 62nd per Saragin, 81st per T-Rank. Rutgers is now 6-5 in Quad 1 games.
"It was an intense basketball game like every game in this league is," Pikiell said. "Made some plays and we stayed poised on the road. Cliff (Omoruyi) with the big free throws. It back and forth. We got some big stops but didn't corral a few rebounds and gave them some opportunities. But, I'm proud of our guys.
"It's just a great group. We really grinded it out. These guys in every huddle, I knew they were connected. They've been able to go into some tough environments and this is as tough as any and win games. It's not an easy thing to do. Proud of them. We still got a lot of basketball left and a lot of opportunities down the road here. Got to get focused on those coming up."
Rutgers shot the ball well in the first half (47.8%), but turned the ball over seven times leading to nine Indiana points. The Hoosiers were also outrebounding Rutgers at that point, 18-12 and were 6-of-7 from the foul line. The Scarlet Knights went 0-for-4 from the charity stripe in the opening 20 minutes. They led by as many as 10 points with 12 seconds to go before Geo Baker made a rainbow 3-pointer as the buzzer sounded to hush the crowd and make it a seven-point contest.
A 10-0 run starting with two Baker foul shots that ended with an Aundre Hyatt layup gave Rutgers its first lead since the beginning of the game at 38-37.
"Every shot and point in a game like this is huge Gave us some momentum going into halftime," Pikeill said of Baker's triple. "He's hit big shots for us his whole career. He made some big drives for us. He was locked in today. I saw it in his eyes. He had a swagger about him and we need that and that's what he came back for. We need to send him off the right way."
Indiana came right back though for its own 7-0 run to go back up by six. The two teams traded buckets until the Scarlet Knights put together a Paul Mulcahy basket in the paint, a Cliff Omoruyi dunk, a free throw by Mulcahy, and a tough layup by Baker to tie the game at 52-52 with 5:30 left. Another 3-pointer by Baker and two key foul shots by Omoruyi put Rutgers up 59-56.
With time winding down Rutgers grabbed a rebound and Baker passed the ball up the court to Mulcahy in the corner who got tangled with Xavier Johnson. Mulcahy was got for a Flagrant 2 foul and was ejected with 19 seconds left. Johnson was first called for a foul, and Indiana picked Hyatt to make the free throws and he sunk them both. Miller Kopp for Indiana sank both his his free throws too to keep it at 63-60.
With the basketball after a timeout, Parker Stewart missed a 3-pointer, but the ensuing rebound just went through the hands of Hyatt. Stewart ended up with a second chance from the right corner and he cashed in this time.
The Scarlet Knights had a timeout, but Pikiell elected to not call it. As the clocked ticked down, Harper. Jr. sprinted up the court, took a pass from Baker, did some dribble moves to create separation on Race Thompson, and put up the shot that won it. Indiana couldn't get a clean shot off after Harper Jr. tipped the inbound.
"It was a great moment for sure," Harper Jr. said. "They got two really good looks at it three and the second one went down. I kind of saw Geo looking at me when we inbounded the ball and his man was pressing so I'm just like "right here, right here", and I just got to my spot. Coach Pikiell always tell me I have big onions so I just had it come through."
Harper Jr. finished with 19 points while Baker and Omoruyi each tallied 13 points. Omoruyi also had 12 rebounds, four blocks, and a steal.
Jackson-Davis led the Hoosiers with 19 points, though he had just four after halftime. Rutgers implemented more zone defensive looks after the break and switched between man-to-man, press, and zone. Johnson ended up with 13 points while Thompson recorded 12.
"He's a worker and he just continues to get better and obviously he's got to play -- the list of big guys in our league is like no other league in the country. He's had to guard them all," Pikiell said of second-year freshman center Omoruyi. "We mixed some things up which I think kind of helped a little bit and made a couple of game adjustments. He's been great. I mean a double-double in this environment is as good as you can do."
After losing the rebounding battle to start, Rutgers had 33 rebounds to 31 for Indiana. The Scarlet Knights led for only 5:06 compared to 33:24 for Indiana, but all that mattered was the final score.
This is the third year in a row that Rutgers has won its last road game to help solidify its NCAA Tournament resume. The Scarlet Knights knocked-off Purdue at Mackey Arena before COVID shut everything down, they won at Minnesota in the finale a year ago, and now they were victorious on Wednesday at Indiana. Rutgers has now won five games inn a row against the Hoosiers.
"I think we're just all fighters," Baker said. "We knew we had to just dig deep and find a way to get a win. Its right down to the wire, and it's been like that much the past three years. We have our sense of urgency, and we are just trying to find ways to win. We feel like we deserve it. We've worked for it. We want to finish strong."
Rutgers next finishes the regular season at home against Penn State on Sunday at noon. Baker, Harper Jr. and Caleb McConnell along with Ralph Gonzales-Agee and Luke Nathan will be honored before tip as part of Senior Day. The Big Ten Tournament is up after that. It is unclear still who and when Rutgers will play its first game.
"We just try to take it one game at a time," Baker said. "We really want to come in here and get a win and it's super special. We're not looking too far ahead. Right now we have one more game against Penn State, so we'll be locked in on that. But it was a really special win and it was a group effort."
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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