PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men's basketball hosts Minnesota on Sunday afternoon at Jersey Mike's Arena. The 1 pm game will be the regular season finale.
Sunday's game will be the program's annual Senior Day. Rutgers will honor
Tyson Acuff, PJ Hayes and
Zach Martini, as well as eight senior student managers in a pregame ceremony. Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 12:30 for the pregame ceremony.
Rutgers enters Sunday's contest with a 14-16 overall record and 7-12 conference mark. RU looks to snap a two-game losing streak, which came on the road against No. 15 Michigan and No. 18 Purdue. Playing in arguably the top league in the nation, the Scarlet Knights strength of schedule ranks 19
th in the country and toughest in the conference.
Rutgers is third in the Big Ten in free throw attempts per game (21.9) and offensive rebounds (11.07), while ranking fourth in bench points (23.53).
Dylan Harper and
Ace Bailey became the first Big Ten freshmen duo to each score 500 points in a season since Michigan's Chris Weber and Jalen Rose in 1991-92.
Bailey this week was named one of the top-five finalist for the Julius Erving Award, given by the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame to the nation's best small forward.
Over the past eight games since returning from injury,
Dylan Harper is averaging 20.1 points 3.8 assists and 2.3 steals per game. He is shooting 49.5 percent from the field and 82.6% from the free throw line in that span.
For his collegiate career across all levels (Black Hills State, San Diego, Rutgers), PJ Hayes enters the Minnesota game with 998 points, just two shy of 1,000 for his career.
RU, who has never averaged more than 69 points per game under head coach
Steve Pikiell is averaging 76.7 points per game this season. Rutgers has averaged 76 points per game just 16 times in the school's 111-year history (and not since 1992-92). The last time RU averaged over 70 points per game was 2013-14 (71.1 ppg). RU has averaged over 70 points per game for a full season just that one time since the start of the 2001-02 season.
Both
Dylan Harper and
Ace Bailey are on the precipice of taking over the RU record for the most points ever by a RU true freshman.
Rutgers True Freshmen Season Scoring Leaders: Total Points
- Mike Rosario (08-09): 517
- Dylan Harper (24-25): 515
- Phil Sellers (72-73): 506
- Ace Bailey (24-25): 504
The duo each became the first Scarlet Knight to reach 500 points in a season since Ron Harper Jr., scored 507 points in 2021-22. The only other Scarlet Knight to reach 500 points in a season under current head coach
Steve Pikiell was Corey Sanders in 2017-18 (517). With Harper's next field goal, he would have scored more points than any Scarlet Knight in the Big Ten era. The last Scarlet Knight to score at least 520 points in a season was Mike Rosario (534 in 2009-10).
If either player passes Rosario's 534 points (Harper is 20 points away, Bailey is 31 points away from passing), they would have the most points for a Scarlet Knight since Quincy Douby scored 839 points in his final Scarlet Knights' campaign in 2005-06.
Rutgers will recognize a trio of student-athletes on Senior Day. All three are players competing in their lone season as Scarlet Knights. They will be honored in a pregame ceremony alongside senior student managers and staff, starting at approximately 12:30 pm.
#5 TYSON ACUFF
A graduate student from Detroit, Michigan who joined the program after spending two seasons apiece at Eastern Michigan and Dusquene. Acuff was the eighth leading scorer in the country last season.
Acuff will be joined in the pregame ceremonies by his Aunt (Meka) and sisters (Kierra and Kiemara).
Acuff is completing a graduate certificate in Gifted Education.
2025 at Rutgers: 30 Games, 38.5% FG%, 39.5% 3-PT%, 5.1 PPG, 45 REB, 29 AST, 7 STL
#23 PJ HAYES IV
A native of Waconia, Minnesota, spending his fifth season of collegiate basketball 'On the Banks' following three years at Division II Black Hills State and one at San Diego University. Hayes enters the Senior Day game with 998 total collegiate points.
PJ will be joined in the pregame ceremonies by his parents Jennifer and Pat and his brother Jackson.
Hayes is set to graduate with a degree in Labor and Employment Relations.
2025 at Rutgers: 23 Games, 32.8% FG%, 32.1% 3-PT%, 2.9 PPG, 37 REB, 13 AST, 7 STL
#99 ZACH MARTINI
A local product from Warren, New Jersey, Martini came to RU following four successful seasons in-state at Princeton University.
Zach will be joined in the pregame ceremonies by his parents Chris and Chris and his brother Chad.
Martini is graduating with a Master's of Financial Analysis from the Rutgers Business School.
2025 at Rutgers: 28 Games, 43.2% FG%, 37.3% 3-PT%, 4.2 PPG, 58 REB, 15 AST, 11 STL
SENIOR MANAGERS
- Russ Thistle - Toms River, N.J. Degree: Supply Chain Management
- Danny Burrick - Westfield, N.J. Degree: Sports Management
- Seb Coloma - Ridgefield Park, N.J.Degree: Sports Management
- Dan Fritz - Simsbury, Conn. Degree: Sports Management
- Sean Gilhooly - Clinton Township, N.J. Degree: Sports Management
- Victoria Enemuo - Maplewood, N.J. Athletic Training Assistant
A number of Rutgers players are looking to put their name onto RU's all-time single-season stat leaderboards.
Single Season Free Throw Percentage (Min. 75 Attempts)
8. Bob Lloyd (1964-65) .876
9. Keith Hughes (1989-90) .874
10. Steve Kaplan (1971-72) .871
11. Steve Kaplan (1970-71) .864
12. Lathan Sommervile: .860
13. Myles Mack (2014-15) .858
14. Al Karner (1994-95) .853
15. John Somogyi (1972-73) .850
16. Rob Hodgson (1996-97) .847
17. Quincy Douby (2005-06) .8465
Scoring Leaders
16. Steve Worthy (1991-92) 583
17. James Bailey (1978-79) 554
18. Mike Dabney (1974-75) 541
19. Mike Rosario (2009-10) 534
20. Bob Greacen (1968-69) 532
Dylan Harper: 515
Ace Bailey: 504
Free Throws Made
13. Keith Hughes (1989-90) 130
14. Eric Riggins (1985-86) 129
John Battle (1984-85) 129
Kelvin Troy (1980-81) 129
17. Kevin Black (1982-83) 127
Bob Lloyd (1964-65) 127
Doug Patton (1959-60) 127
20. Dahntay Jones (1999-00) 124
Dylan Harper: 113
Assist Leaders
16. Mark Conlin (1976-77) 129
17. Mike Coburn (2010-11) 127
18. Geo Baker (2018-19) 126
19. Mike Sherrod (2001-02) 125
Steve Brown (1985-86) 125
21. Anthony Farmer (2005-06) 124
Dylan Harper: 107
Under fourth-year head coach Ben Johnson, Minnesota is 15-15 overall and 7-12 in Big Ten play. After opening the year at 8-9 overall and 0-6 in the Big Ten on January 13, the Gophers then won six of their next nine games. The Gophers are 5-4 on the road this year and have four straight road wins since Feb. 4 (at Penn State, at USC, at UCLA, at Nebraska).
Dawson Garcia is fifth in the Big Ten in scoring at 19.1 points per game, just slightly behind Rutgers'
Dylan Harper and
Ace Bailey, who sit sixth and seventh. Garcia has scored 28% of the Gophers' points this season, with just one other player in double-figures (Lu'Cye Patterson, 11.8 ppg).
Brennan Rigsby has been hot of late, averaging just 5.4 points per game on the year, but had 20 points last weekend at Nebraska, then 18 Wednesday versus Wisconsin (13-of-18 from the field, including seven-of-nine from three-point in those games). Prior to that two-game stretch, Rigsby had scored just four points in the previous four games and 17 points across the previous nine games.
Garcia is the team's leading rebounder at 7.5 rpg. Both Patterson (101) and Femi Odukale (107) have surpassed the century mark for assists on the year. The Gophers are also second in the conference at 4.7 blocks per game, with three players (Femi Odukale, 36, Parker Fox, 32 and Dawson Garcia, 27) in the top-18 in the league in rejections.
The Scarlet Knights are closing out the regular season with the first meeting this season against Minnesota. RU is 7-11 all-time against Minnesota. That includes RU having won five of the past eight games against the Gophers. The last time the Gophers visited Jersey Mike's Arena was two seasons ago, as RU romped 90-55 in that game (Feb. 1, 2023). RU only played at Minnesota last season, an 81-70 loss.
The Scarlet Knights are assured of a berth in the
Big Ten Tournament, set to begin Wednesday in Indianapolis at Gainbridge Fieldhouse. Rutgers' seed will be determined at the conclusion of the regular season. Wednesday's games will be on Peacock, with a tripleheader beginning at 3:30 pm.
