PISCATAWAY, N.J. – The Rutgers men's and women's basketball programs hosted MidKnight Madness on Thursday night at the College Avenue Gym.

The event began with player introductions led by emcee AJ Ross of CBS Sports Network. Following warmups and a performance by the dance team, the teams moved on to basketball activities.

In the dunk contest, it was sophomore Ron Harper Jr. taking home the crown with the standout dunk of the evening. Harper Jr. brought out teammate Shaq Carter and then elevated over him to finish the flush, receiving a score of perfect 10s from the judges, Rutgers wrestling head coach Scott Goodale, 2019 national champion Anthony Ashnault and the Scarlet Knight.

Next up was the knockout competition. Arella Guirantes defeated Mamadou Doucoure to take the crown.

The three-point competition was a competition in teams, with Caleb McConnell teaming with Noga Peleg Pelc and Rutgers student Justin Dekovics, an accounting major in the class of 2022, to take the crown.

The night concluded with a performance by the recording artist Bryce Vine. The New York City native, who has recently seen two singles, "Drew Barrymore" and "La La Land" rise to the top-75 of the Billboard Hot 100.

Fourth-year head coach Steve Pikiell and Rutgers men's basketball were named the Most Improved Team of the 2018-19 season by Sports Illustrated in its year-end wards. The Scarlet Knights improved 70 positions in the KenPom.com rankings since the season's initial rating, best among all power conference programs.
 
Stemming from the progress, Rutgers experienced five sell-outs at the RAC, its most since 2004-05 (7). Average attendance improved 31.1% from 2017-18. RU ranked 65th nationally in percent of capacity (78%) out of 353 D-I programs after placing 232nd in 2017-18 (59.49%).
 
Women's basketball returns eight Scarlet Knights from last year's squad that captured its most successful Big Ten season to date and danced its way to an at-large NCAA Tournament Bid. The Scarlet Knights played to a 22-10 overall mark and a third-place regular season finish in the Big Ten with a 13-5 conference mark. RU reached the Big Ten semifinals for the first time since joining the league in 2014 and ranked as high as No. 14 in the Associated Press and No. 18 in the ESPN/USA Today Polls.
 
C. Vivian Stringer embarks on her 49th season in coaching and is coming off a season in which she became the sixth coach in NCAA women's basketball history to surpass the 1,000-career victory milestone. Entering her 25th season "On The Banks", Stringer is one victory shy of capturing her 500th win at the helm of the Scarlet Knight program.

Follow Rutgers men's (@RutgersMBB) and women's (@RutgersWBB) basketball on Twitter and Instagram for news and updates. For additional updates, download the Rutgers Gameday App.