Rutgers men's basketball struggles defensively in narrow loss to Princeton
The 122nd meeting between the Rutgers men’s basketball team and Princeton could not be decided until the final seconds. In what was an instant classic, the Tigers (9-4, 0-0) pulled out a narrow 83-82 win against the Scarlet Knights (7-5, 1-1) at the Prudential Center on Saturday afternoon.
Rutgers struck first – a layup from freshman forward Ace Bailey – but Princeton responded with a 6-0 run to take its first lead. The Knights took the lead again before the Tigers tied it up midway through the first half.
The final 10 minutes of the half was back-and-forth, but Rutgers had a narrow 46-44 lead at the break, largely because of freshman guard Dylan Harper’s 17 points on 7-of-10 shooting. Junior guard Jordan Derkack was also key – he had 8 points, with 6 coming from the charity stripe.
Princeton kept itself in the game with 26 points in the paint and 14 second-chance points. The Tigers were outrebounding the Knights 20-18, but their 12 offensive boards were the difference between both teams.
The same thrilling back-and-forth action seen in the first half continued in the second. Unlike the first, where Harper solely led Rutgers, Bailey, redshirt senior guard Jeremiah Williams and graduate student forward Zach Martini, chipped in with timely baskets down the stretch in the second.
But in the end, though, it was not enough. In the final minute, Bailey hit a three to give the Knights a 1-point lead, but a hook shot from Caden Pierce then gave Princeton the lead right back. With 2 seconds left, Harper shot a contested three for the win but missed. He couldn't replicate his late heroics against Seton Hall in front of the 10,148 loud fans at the Rock, many of them donning scarlet and white.
After shooting 1 of 7 from the free throw line in the first, the Tigers shot 7 of 11 in the second, with Xaivian Lee sinking 6 of his 7 attempts. Lee finished with a double-double with 21 points and 11 assists.
Princeton had 44 points in the paint, 23 second-chance points and won the rebounding battle 43-36. Those three elements proved to be the deciding factor in the game.
“We’ve had glimpses of being really good at (rebounding),” said head coach Steve Pikiell. “We’ll look at the tape, we got some really good rebounders … (Princeton) got 19 second shots and Lee had 21 points – a bunch of his were right in the paint.”
Bailey totaled 15 points and 12 rebounds for his fourth double-double this season. Harper had 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting.
Martini had 7 points against his former team, nailing a three and sinking all four of his free throws.
“It was fun,” Martini said on playing the Tigers. “It was fun to compete against those guys, a lot of my good friends … It would have been a lot more fun if we came out victorious.”
Rutgers will have nine days off before it returns to Jersey Mike’s Arena to face Columbia on December 30. The game will tip off at 5:00 p.m. and be broadcast on the Big Ten Network and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
“Great college basketball game,” Pikiell said. “Princeton’s always good, always challenging – they were one possession better than us today … I thought we played hard and did some good things out there, but a lot of second shots and just gotta be one possession better.”
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