LAS VEGAS — Rutgers men's basketball's second-half surge came up short Tuesday morning, as the Scarlet Knights fell 68–63 to Notre Dame at the MGM Grand Garden Arena in their second game at the Player's Era Tournament.
Rutgers (4–3) outscored the Irish 39–32 after halftime and trimmed what was once a 19-point deficit down to five in the final minute, but Notre Dame held on behind a dominant performance from junior guard Markus Burton, who finished with 21 points, six assists, four steals and six rebounds.
The Scarlet Knights struggled early, shooting just 9-of-22 (40.9 percent) in the first half and committing 11 turnovers before the break. Notre Dame capitalized by scoring 18 points in the paint and seven second-chance points to build a 36–24 halftime lead.
Rutgers came alive after the break, fueled by junior captain guard
Jamichael Davis' career-high 21 points, including 5-of-7 from three, and junior guard
Tariq Francis, who added 10 points and eight in the second half. Sophomore forward
Dylan Grant chipped in 15 points and seven rebounds, continuing his strong start to the season.
The Scarlet Knights knocked down 11 threes on the day, including four from Davis and three from Grant, helping them climb back within 56–60 with under six minutes remaining. But Burton answered with multiple late drives, and Notre Dame's defense forced key stops in the final possessions.
Notre Dame shot 49.1 percent from the field and held a 36–16 edge in paint points, using physicality and second efforts (13 second-chance points) to control long stretches of the game.
Rutgers finished at 39.2 percent shooting, but its 16 second-chance points and improved tempo fueled the comeback that fell just short. Former Scarlet Knight
Ace Bailey of the NBA's Utah Jazz flew in for the matchup and took in the game courtside in Las Vegas.
Gallery: (11-25-2025) Rutgers MBB vs. Notre Dame
Postgame Quotes
STEVE PIKIELL: Tough game, obviously. Notre Dame — I watched them yesterday, saw them live, and knew from the Kansas game that they've got some real tools. I thought we grew a little bit tonight. We've got to play 40 minutes. We've got to figure out the backboards. But coming back from that kind of deficit against a really good team shows you a little fight and shows you some character.
I knew coming in here we'd learn a lot about us. This is an elite tournament, as you guys know, with really good teams, and you've got to play 40 minutes. Coach Shrewsberry is a great coach — what he did at Penn State and what he's going to do here at Notre Dame. So much respect for how he does things. He's on the NCAA ethics committee, too. He does things the right way. A heck of a coach.
A couple possessions better today — again, we dug ourselves a hole in the first half, and it's a tough way to play against a team like that with some veteran guys.
Q: Steve, were you more encouraged by what you saw in the second half or discouraged by what you saw in the first half?
PIKIELL: The first half — the turnovers in the first half really put us in a bad spot. We've got to plug that hole, and then we've got to plug the rebounding. We didn't help ourselves in both of those areas in the first half against a really good team that's going to take advantage of that.
Jay Mike gets a career high, plays hard. We got some awesome minutes out of Bryce Dortch — really great energy. We went with a little athleticism down the stretch. Guys are getting their feet wet in high-caliber games, and hopefully we learn from it. But we do have to figure out this rebounding thing. This is a problem.
Q: Slow start to the first half — what was your message to the team going into the second half?
PIKIELL: They ended the first half the right way. J-Mike gets the tip-in on a Bryce steal, gave us a little energy. But again, we're spotting teams at halftime. Our second halves have been good, but it's 40 minutes.
I challenged them at halftime, and we keep talking about guys needing to step up. I even thought down the stretch we ran some really good plays and executed — we just missed a couple open looks that would have made it a little different. But certainly the effort in the first half is how we've got to play the whole game, and we've got to start understanding that.
Q: You're obviously accustomed to some really good freshmen. Notre Dame has Jalen Haralson. What makes him difficult to guard?
PIKIELL: He's just a matchup problem. He's eager to get to the rim. He's got size and the ability to go downhill and attack. He's unique. And when they surround him with guys who can shoot, that makes it even harder.
They like to get in the paint — both Burton and Haralson. When they get in the paint, they cause trouble and get you in foul trouble. Elite driver is how I'd categorize him — just a hard matchup.
Q: You talked about Jamichael Davis' career high. He seemed to be all over the court. How much energy does he bring?
PIKIELL: He's a self-made player. It was good to have his buddy Ace here today to see his career high. He's just an everyday worker — not the most talented, but he fights.
He had to guard as good a guard as you can play, and he forced him into six turnovers today, which isn't easy. I know the kid had 21 points, and he had to earn those, too. But J-Mike does whatever you ask. One of those kids — sub him in, sub him out — he's always the same. Ready to help the team. You never have enough of those guys.
Q: You mentioned Ace. What was it like having him sitting on the bench?
PIKIELL: I wanted to sub him in, but I started screaming about rebounds — and he wouldn't help us in that category either. Last year he drove me nuts rebounding the ball, too.
But Ace is as great a kid and representative of Rutgers as you can have. Proud of him. He's going to have a great NBA career. His best days are ahead of him. Miss coaching him — too short of a time to have him in the program. But proud of him. He smiles all the time, he's got great energy. Watch out, NBA — he's going to do great things.
Q: You took 27 threes — nine of your first 11 shots were threes. Was that an emphasis or something Notre Dame forced?
PIKIELL: We can shoot the ball, first and foremost. I didn't think we shot it great. We had some good looks we could make. But that's kind of how they play — back-line defense, in gaps. Micah does a great job keeping you out of the lane.
It's what they give. When we reverse the ball, when we run, and when we get stops, we get good looks. I think we even missed a lot of good looks. One of these days they all go in and you look like a really good coach.
But we got good looks and we're getting better at making the extra pass and doing things to help our offense.
Q: There were a lot of runs both ways. How do you manage those?
PIKIELL: You try to string together as many good possessions as you can. With one day to prepare, it's hard. We wanted to keep them out of the lane — that was a big emphasis. I thought we did a good job because Shrewsberry has been lighting people up. To hold him to 13 points and 3-for-6 — he's been getting a lot of attempts.
We wanted to iso him a little bit and give less help in his area, but then you've got to give a lot of help on Haralson's penetration and on Burton. Hard team to guard. They've always been good offensively. They do a really good job.
