Rutgers hoping much-needed victory sparks winning streak
PISCATAWAY » With a late start to accommodate a national television broadcast of the Big Ten/ ACC Challenge, there was some thought that Jersey Mike’s Arena might not be its usual, raucous self.
Ron Harper, Jr. made sure that wouldn’t be the case.
The senior forward took over the highly-anticipated NCAA Tournament rematch against the Clemson Tigers at times in the second half, and ended up turning in a season-high 23 points with eight rebounds and two assists in a 74-64 win in front of an announced sell-out crowd on Tuesday night.
He scored 15 of those 23 points in the game’s final 20 minutes, drilling back-to-back threepointers in a span of 81 seconds midway through the half that had the crowd on their feet.
“It’s important Ron stepped up, but guys got him the ball too,” said Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell. “Once we had that thing flowing, I saw Paul (Mulcahy), every time he was going down the court, he knew where he was and was trying to find him. And, to Ron’s credit, he made some big plays, but the bigger plays are on the defensive end down the floor…he gave us a huge lift.”
It’s nothing new for Harper, who had a breakout year last season — he was one of the final 20 players on the watchlist for the John Wooden Award, and one of five finalists for the Julius Erving Award — and stepped up in the absence of senior guard Geo Baker, who missed three games in 2020-21 due to injury, and remains out this year with a hamstring injury he suffered against
Lafayette.
Harper, who, like Baker, entered his name into the NBA Draft process this summer, but withdrew to finish his senior season, has remained humble in his success, and Tuesday night’s electric performance was no different.
“It’s like ‘Pike’ said, guys were getting me the ball,” he said. “They really trust and believe in me. (Clemson) cut the lead down to one point, and I told the guys, ‘They’re going to make their run, it’s about how we withstand it and how we respond to that adversity.’ Taking over in that part of the game, it feels great, because I know these guys believe in me and they trust me to take shots like that in moments like that. I appreciate them for that, and we’re just going to keep building.”
With Rutgers having lost three straight one-possession games heading into their matchup against Clemson, having someone who’s still willing to take on the role of the closer when needed while still feeding off fellow veteran team pillars like Mulcahy and Caleb McConnell is critical to their success.
“I take a lot of pride in that,” Harper said. “A lot of people ask me if I think I want to be the man on this team, and I want to be the man in so many ways other than scoring. I want to be a voice out there, I want to be a real leader. I’ve got two real leaders (Mulcahy and McConnell) sitting next to me, and Coach Pike talked to us and said, ‘I need you guys to be leaders. You guys are veterans, and you guys have been there, so you know what to do.’ He puts his trust in us, and these two guys, I’ll go to war with them every day.”