PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Ron Harper Jr. knew it was good when he let it go from mid-court.
With Rutgers trailing by one point with 3.4 seconds remaining on the clock, Harper Jr. double-clutched, jumped off his opposite foot and drilled a prayer to send Jersey Mike's Arena into euphoria.
"It's unreal man it's something you dream about," Harper Jr. said. "When it went off my hands and I saw it go in I was jumping around like a little kid on Christmas day."
The sellout crowd stormed the court as the senior forward sent Rutgers home with it's highest ranked win ever and only victory over the number one ranked team in the country in the program's history as RU defeated No. 1 Purdue 70-68.
"I went off my right foot," Harper Jr. said. "I took a quick glance at the shot clock and saw there was like three seconds left. I told Mawot (Mag) to give me the ball and I tried to get as far up the court as I could. When I let it go I knew it was going to go in."
Harper Jr. became the first player to score over 30 points and hit a buzzer beater to beat the AP number one ranked team in the country in the history of college basketball. It was the first time Rutgers won on a buzzer beater since Myles Mack swished a buzzer-beating shot to defeat Monmouth, 59-58, on Dec. 28, 2014.
Head coach
Steve Pikiell's team has been beaten three times on a final game-winning shot by opposing teams this season. Harper Jr. hit the go-ahead shot on the previous possession to give RU a 67-66 lead with a fade-away move at the free throw line. Purdue would respond with a basket on a driving layup from Trevion Williams with under five seconds remaining, a shot that has haunted the Knights all season. Despite all of that, Pikiell had the same feeling from the bench when the final shot left Harper Jr.'s hands.
"How about Ron," head coach
Steve Pikiell said. "We've lost a game like that too so I know what that feels like. Ron hit a shot and I knew when he left his hands he made it. He made that same shot at shoot around today, the same exact shot. And it was a great feeling. They earned that win and we toughed an unbelievable week."
Harper Jr. finished the game with exactly 30 points on 10-for-15 shooting from the field including five-of-seven from three-point land. The senior had his fifth double-double of the season as he added ten boards.
RU's first ever-victory over a number one ranked team in the country comes exactly 40 years to the month when the Scarlet Knights defeated the number two ranked UCLA Bruins on Dec. 3, 1981 by a score of 57-54 at a neutral site. Rutgers had a halftime lead at 36-35. Purdue then went in front by 10, 57-47, with 8:34 to play. The team finished the game on a 15-5 run to capture the victory.
It was a game where obstacles were certainly a factor for RU. Pikiell found out this morning that fellow senior
Geo Baker would not be able to play in Thursday night's game against Purdue.
Baker, who practiced on Wednesday despite nursing a hamstring that has caused him to miss the last three games was preparing to be ready to go against Purdue. The guard called his coach this morning to tell him that he had the flu and would not be able to dress.
"When we were at shoot around today we all found out that Geo had the flu," Harper Jr. said. "Coach Pikiell preaches that next man up mentality. All the young guys and all of the veterans did a great job of plugging it together today. We put it together for the whole game. Me and Geo, we came back together for a special season and obviously it hasn't started the way we wanted."
The Boilermakers were (8-0) on the season coming into tonight's game and have been playing some of the best offensive basketball in the country.
The victory marked the Scarlet Knights fourth consecutive win over Purdue and an improvement to 5-12 in the all-time series.
"This win means a lot to us that we can play with anyone in the country," Harper Jr. said. "I think we can keep that momentum going."
The win marks:
- Rutgers' first ever win over a No. 1 ranked team.
- Rutgers' highest ranked win since a victory over No. 2 UCLA on Dec. 3, 1981.
- Rutgers' fourth straight win over the Boilermakers.
- The third active four-game winning streak over a Big Ten foe (Minnesota and Northwestern).
- An improvement to 5-12 in the all-time series vs. Purdue.
- Rutgers' 11th top-10 win all-time and 43rd all-time ranked win.
- It was the 9th ranked win under head coach Steve Pikiell and second top-10 win under Pikiell (No. 9 Maryland, March 3, 2020).
- It was the first time Rutgers won on a buzzer beater since Myles Mack swished a buzzer-beating shot to defeat Monmouth, 59-58, on Dec. 28, 2014.
- The last Rutgers athletics' team to take down a No. 1 ranked team was the women's soccer program, who defeated No. 1 Virginia in penalty kicks to advance to the 2015 College Cup. Prior to that was a women's basketball victory over No. 1 UConn on Feb. 5, 2008.
- Per KenPom.com, Rutgers' win probability was as low as 2.5% as RU trailed by 8 with seven minutes to play. When Purdue scored with 3.4 seconds to play, RU had just an 11.2% chance of a victory before Harper Jr. hit the buzzer-beater.
Individually:
- Ron Harper Jr. tied his career-high 30 points, his most ever against a Big Ten team.
- He became the second Rutgers' player ever to post 30+ points against a Big Ten team (Corey Sanders, three previous times).
- Harper Jr. became the first player to score over 30 points and hit a buzzer beater to beat the AP number one ranked team in the country in the history of college basketball.
- He had his fifth double-double of the season and 11th of his career.
- He moved past Don Parsons, Steven Kaplan and Bob Greacen for 26th place all-time at RU in scoring.
- His 30 points tied for the 3rd-most in the last 10 seasons by a D-I player in a win vs. AP No. 1.
- Paul Mulcahy had a career-high in assists with eight.
- Mawot Mag made his first career start and scored 12 points, a career-high.
- Luke Nathan made his season debut.
Against Purdue:
- The Boilermakers entered the game second in nation and first in in the Big Ten in scoring offense (90.5) and RU held them to a season-low 68 points (nine below their previous low).
- The Boilermakers entered the game second in nation and first in in the Big Ten in three-point percentage (44.0) and RU held them to a season-low 26.9%.
- The Boilermakers entered the game third in the nation and first in the Big Ten in field goal percentage, and RU held them to a season-low 53.1%.
Rutgers Head Coach Steve Pikiell: Postgame Quotes
Opening Statement: "Great game, great win over a fantastic Purdue Team. Proud of these guys. We fought through it. Seven guys had the flu this week. Geo practiced yesterday and then got the flu this morning, couldn't play. And what these guys did… the turnaround, they were focused. That is a good basketball team and you saw that tonight. A good basketball team and we're missing a few pieces. Proud of the crowd. The students were unbelievable. The environment. The band, the Riot squad, the cheerleaders, the dance team and all the fans in the community to come out make this a hard place to play because when we go on the road in this league, it's tough. It's a tough league to go one on the road and we've made Jersey Mike's now a place that's tough for people to come in and play. And I thank the fans for coming out and making that happen. And they saw history. History was made tonight. All these guys were a big part of it. Cliff coming back into the game. How about the energy
Mawot Mag gave in his first start. Ron, we talk about rebounds all the time, gets a double-double, plays fantastic. Paul did what he's supposed to do directing our team.
Caleb McConnell chased Sasha Stefonovic around who's one of the best guards in the country at moving without the ball and he's one of the leading three point shooters. We held a team that averaged 93 points a game to 68. A lot of great things tonight. A really, really good Purdue basketball team so it took all 40 minutes. Real proud of these guys for that they accomplished."
On the end of the game: "We just kept hanging around. We did a really good job fighting in this game. Didn't look like it was going our way at times, but they just stayed the course and made big plays and made big stops. We ran a good play there at the end, just miss timed it. I think Caleb would have been open if he kept going. But we made up for it. We got the ball back and how about Ron? We've lost a game like that too so I know what that feels like. Ron hit a shot and I knew when he left his hands he made it. He made that same shot at shootaround today, the same exact shot. And it was a great feeling. They earned that win and we toughed an unbelievable week."
On the team's depth: "Everybody checked in the game gave us quality minutes. Ron would be the first guy to tell you that. Ron and I talk all the time about rebounds. He got his 10 rebounds. That was as important as anything because Purdue is an excellent team beating people on the glass. Ron did a great job the whole game. Real proud of him for that. He's another one of those guys that can do a lot of things. We moved him around and Mawot allowed him to be moved around the floor a little bit. I think that was important too. But how about the job Cliff did, coming back in the game and wrestling with two of the best post guys in the country. We held them down from three. We did a great job defensively. And they played really well. So a good sign for us moving forward. Ron had one of those nights, unbelievable. And we needed every one of his points.
On the team: "This team we practice well too. I tell you guys that all the time. We have good practices and we just need to start stringing together games. Today they strung together a game the way we practice every day, but we had obstacles all week. Oscar was out and I got to give a tip of the hat to Oskar for playing tonight.
Jaden Jones was sick as could be. He played. Andre Hyatt was sick as could be and he played. Those guys came in and gave us quality minutes for guys that weren't able to practice this week. It's difficult. Real proud of those guys that they stepped up and played. Unfortunately, Geo was back in practice, but then he got the flu too. So a lot of guys out, we had to jockey around but they stayed the course. A lot of obstacles. We fought through it."
Gallery: (12-10-2021) Inside the Celebration: Men's Basketball Topples No. 1
Gallery: (12-9-2021) Men's Basketball versus No. 1 Purdue
