Rutgers followers are nonetheless beaming after their group’s buzzer-beating win over heated rival Seton Corridor final weekend.
The Scarlet Knights (7-4) can additional assert themselves as the most effective group in New Jersey once they shoot for revenge in opposition to Princeton (8-4) on Saturday afternoon on a impartial flooring in Newark, N.J.
Final yr, the applications opened the season in opposition to one another, renewing a rivalry that had gone dormant since 2013. Princeton gained 68-61 on a impartial courtroom in Trenton on its approach to a 24-3 common season. The Tigers have gained 4 of the previous 5 conferences.
That is no typical Rutgers group, although. The Scarlet Knights have gained two straight video games over Penn State and Seton Corridor, with freshman sensation Dylan Harper scoring 24 factors in each. He hit the game-winning 3-pointer on the buzzer on Dec. 14 in opposition to the visiting Pirates, securing a 66-63 victory in a sport wherein Rutgers had trailed by 10.
“We’re rising,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell mentioned. “This group has been powerful and resilient. We’ve carried out a superb job however should determine the right way to proceed doing so. … Our group has to and can proceed to study from all of the groups’ totally different types.”
Harper is the third-leading scorer within the nation at 23.5 factors per sport, including 4.8 rebounds and 4.4 assists. He does most of his scoring on the rim; he shoots 59.5 % contained in the arc.
NBA scouts and followers alike will benefit from the level guard matchup between Harper and Princeton’s Xaivian Lee.
In every of Princeton’s final three video games, Lee has led or co-led the Tigers in factors, rebounds and assists. The largest spotlight was Lee’s 18-point, 13-rebound, 10-assist sport in a street win over Saint Joseph’s, the primary triple-double on file in Princeton historical past.
He added 23 factors, six rebounds and 6 assists in Princeton’s final sport, when the Tigers sweated out a 71-67 win over Monmouth.
“I believed as a group we did a superb job staying composed; for myself, too,” Lee mentioned, per the Trentonian. “I really feel like in a sport like that final yr, if I possibly back-rimmed three 3s the place I felt like had been (getting into), I might form of shut down slightly bit. So I used to be comfortable to see myself nonetheless be capable of take management and keep assured on the finish of the sport as a result of my teammates and our teaching workers belief me to make these performs.”
Whereas Lee and Harper lock horns, Princeton will even need to comprise Rutgers’ different five-star freshman, Ace Bailey.
Although Bailey is 6-foot-10 with a roughly 7-foot wingspan, he can play within the backcourt in addition to at ahead, and the smaller Tigers may have a tough time matching up in opposition to him. Bailey places up 17.9 factors and seven.1 rebounds per contest.
–Area Stage Media