Rutgers men's basketball looks to stay hot in rematch with No. 5 Purdue
After another ranked victory over Illinois at Jersey Mike’s Arena on Livingston campus, the Rutgers men’s basketball team will travel to West Lafayette, Indiana, on Sunday to face Purdue. The Scarlet Knights (16-9, 10-5) are looking for their fifth consecutive victory over the No. 5 Boilermakers (23-4, 12-4).
When Rutgers enters Mackey Arena on Sunday, it will look for an unprecedented fifth straight win against ranked opponents, a streak that was extended in the 70-59 win over the No. 12 Fighting Illini (18-7, 11-4) on Wednesday night. The Knights are now the only unranked team in college basketball history to play four straight regular-season games versus ranked opponents and win them all.
The win also marked Rutgers’ fifth win over a ranked team this season, the most in a season in program history.
“Want to thank the crowd, (Jersey Mike’s Arena) was awesome. It was as good of a night as you could have and I'm thankful for the students, they were out early.” said head coach Steve Pikiell after the game. “A ton of respect for Illinois. They're as good as any team in the country, they could win a national championship. We played hard and played well.”
The Knights’ leading scorer was senior guard Ron Harper Jr. as he poured in 16 points to go along with eight rebounds. With just less than 3 minutes left, Harper appeared to hurt his finger off a deflected inbounds pass. He did not return to the game but came back to the floor afterward with a towel over his hand to celebrate with the team.
“(Harper) suffered an injury to his non-shooting hand in Wednesday night's win over No. 12 Illinois. He will continue to be evaluated for his return to the court and his status is day-to-day.” the team said in a statement.
With the success of the last four games, Rutgers has resurrected its NCAA Tournament chances from a point of desperation a few weeks ago. Since the program’s loss to Maryland on Jan. 25, the Knights have gone 5-1 and with the win over Illinois, Rutgers has earned spots in experts’ projected March Madness brackets.
In pursuit of a fifth straight ranked victory, the Knights will face a Purdue team that is certainly vying for revenge. In the two teams’ first matchup of the season on Dec. 9, the Boilermakers came into Piscataway as the No. 1 ranked team in college basketball, only to be upset on a historic buzzer-beater from Harper.
Since then, Purdue has remained one of the top teams in the country and has won 8 of its last 9 games. The Boilermakers have four players who average double-figure points per game (PPG) and are led by Jaden Ivey, who averages 17 PPG. Zach Edey and Trevion Williams both lead in rebounding with 7.6 rebounds per game while Sasha Stefanovic remains one of the Big Ten’s top 3-point shooters.
Sunday’s game will tip off at 5:30 p.m. and will be broadcasted on Fox Sports 1 and 88.7 WRSU-FM. It is the Knights’ first trip to Mackey Arena since March 7, 2020, a game that resulted in a Rutgers overtime victory.
“I mean, we'll know on March 13, right. That’s the only day that it matters,” Pikiell said when asked about his team’s NCAA Tournament hopes. “I think we can play anybody. We can play with anybody, any place. Win games in any tournament. That's what I do.”
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