3/13/2021 basketball Edit

Rutgers junior forward Ron Harper Jr. nets his 1,000th point

Chris Nalwasky • TheKnightReport

Beat Writer

Rutgers men's basketball's game with Illinois in the quarterfinals of the Big Ten Tournament didn't go exactly as planned on Friday night, but there was a bright spot.

Aside from still being able to likely play next weekend in the NCAA Tournament for the first time in 30 years, junior forward Ron Harper Jr. netted his 1,000th point with the Scarlet Knights.

The 6-foot-6 245-pounder scored 21 points and reached the milestone with a layup in transition with 3:15 remaining. He also added a foul shot and has 1,002 points. Harper Jr. is the 45th Scarlet Knight to achieve the feat.

"It means a lot to me," Harper Jr. told TKR. "This is obviously not the way I wanted to do it, but like I said the past is the past I'm just looking forward to the future. But this is definitely a dream come true. Just coming to Rutgers and being a part of this historic team is a dream come true and I'm just going to keep pushing forward."

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Rutgers forward Ron Harper Jr. scored his 1,000th point on Friday night against Illinois (© Aaron Doster-USA TODAY Sports)

Harper Jr., who essentially went through a two-month 3-point shooting slump, attacked the basket all game against the Illini, and he was efficient, making seven of his 13 field goals. He also went 7-of-9 from the free-throw line, which was an emphasis coming in.

"Ron did a really good job taking what he could get," Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said. "We really needed him to get to the free-throw line. He did and he got us some timely points. To get 1,000 points in a career at any level is a tremendous honor. We need Ron, and Ron's been a good player for us. We need him to continue being that."

The Don Bosco Prep product and Franklin Lakes, N.J. native reached double-double figures in scoring for the 20th time this season and 48th time in his career at Rutgers. He's also scored at least 20 points now seven times this season and 13 times in his career. Against Illinois as a Scarlet Knight, he's averaging 19.8 points per game.

Harper Jr. was named Third Team All-Big Ten this season by the coaches and media and is on the Watch Lists for the Wooden Award, the Julius Erving Award, and the Luke Olson Award.

"I just feel like teams are closing out hard on me so I'm just trying to utilize the pump fake in my dribble more," Harper Jr. said. "hooting open threes is great. but teams are over contesting now, so it's time to use a pump fake to get fouled, get to the foul line, and pick up some easy ones."

Rutgers is staying in the Indianapolis area and will flip the switch as he gets ready for Selection Sunday and hear its named called in the field of 64 for the first time since 1991.

"We just gotta look forward," Harper Jr. said. "I often tell the guys you can’t do anything about the past. Coming off of a loss coming off of a win it doesn’t matter. This is the most important part of the season so we gotta stick with it and stick with each other. We’re a bunch of hard-nosed hard workers nobody expected us to get here. We just gotta keep pushing forward and today wasn’t our day."