Rutgers Basketball ended its regular season on a high note after defeating Minnesota 75-67 in overtime at Jersey Mike's Arena.
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Rutgers (15-16, 8-12 Big Ten) took advantage of a back-and-forth game as it took a 71-63 lead with one minute remaining in overtime following a 6-0 run and a 2:28 scoring drought from Minnesota (15-16, 7-13 Big Ten).
Dylan Harper was the hero for Rutgers as he led it with 22 points, including six in overtime, and six rebounds while Dylan Grant added 12 points and six rebounds. Grant also went 5-for-5 from the field.
Harper gave Rutgers a 61-59 lead with 23.9 seconds remaining with a layup, but Jamison Battle answered with a jumper to tie the game with eight seconds left. Harper had a chance to win the game in regulation, but had the ball stripped away and Minnesota's half-court shot came up short.
Jordan Derkack finished with eight points and four rebounds, including two big free throws that gave Rutgers a 59-58 lead with 1:07 remaining. Minnesota tied things up though with a free throw from Femi Odukalegame with 44.4 left.
Harper gave Rutgers a 57-56 lead with 1:40 remaining following a layup, but Minnesota responded with a layup of its own from Frank Mitchell to take a one-point lead with 1:17 left.
Rutgers finished 42 percent from the field (28-for-66) with Jeremiah Williams and Lathan Sommerville adding eight points apiece.
Rutgers took advantage of a 4:30 scoring drought for Minnesota and took a 52-50 lead with 5:05 remaining following a layup from Willaims. Minnesota answered though with a basket from Lu'Cye Patterson to tie the game at 54 with 3:24 left.
After a rough stretch of offense where Minnesota went 9:19 without a field goal, the Golden Gophers turned things around and used an 18-4 run to erase an 11-point deficit and take a 49-46 lead with 9:23 remaining in the second half.
Rutgers missed 12 of its first 16 shots of the second half before Grant's layup made it 49-48 with 9:14 left.
Garcia scored a team-high 19 points for Minnesota with eight rebounds as the Gophers finished 41 percent (26-for-64) from the floor. Mitchell tallied a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds while Patterson had 12 points.
The first 15 minutes of the game were tightly contested as it had 11 lead changes and four ties before Rutgers outscored Minnesota 20-8 in the final seven minutes and took a 38-29 lead into halftime.
The Scarlet Knights started to take over when they six straight shots and used an 8-0 run to take a 33-25 lead with 4:10 remaining following a 3-pointer from Harper.
Minnesota struggled down the stretch as it went the final 5:29 of the first half without a field goal, missing its last eight shots. The Gophers also made just two of its last 12 shots and finished the half 39 percent (12-for-31) from the field.
Minnesota's nightmare stretch continued as it missed its first five shots of the second half and Rutgers took a 42-31 lead with 17 minutes remaining following a layup from Zach Martini.
Harper led Rutgers in the first half with nine points while Grant had eight points and four rebounds. Lathan Sommerville had six points and went 4-for-4 from the free-throw line. The Scarlet Knights shot 43 percent (13-for-30) from the field.
Rutgers took its largest lead of the first half, 38-28, with 1:46 remaining following a pair of free throws from Harper.
Dawson Garcia led Minnesota in the first half with nine points on 4-for-9 shooting while Frank Mitchell had six points on a perfect 3-for-3 from the field.
It was a historic day for Harper as he surpassed Mike Rosario's freshman single-season scoring record with 537 points. Rosario recorded 517 points in 2008-09.
RHoops Play of the Day: Dylan Harper puts Femi Odukale in the spin cycle and gives Rutgers a 61-59 lead with 23.9 seconds left.
Up next: Rutgers will enter the Big Ten Tournament as an 11-seed and face 14th -seeded USC in the first round on Wednesday at 9 p.m. (ET) on Peacock.
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