If Rutgers fulfills its destiny and makes the NCAA tournament for the second straight season, Ron Harper Jr. will be canonized for his heroic acts.
Harper, a 6-6 senior who is a finalist for the Basketball Hall of Fame’s Julius Ewing award, made a splash on Sports Center in December when he made a halfcourt shot at the buzzer to give the Knights a victory over then top-ranked Purdue at the RAC
Now, the son of former NBA star Ron Harper Sr. has taken part in another miracle finish, making a three- point shot with 2.1 seconds to play give Rutgers a 66-63 victory over Indiana in Bloomington. After the final buzzer, Harper ran to center court and took a Trae Young-like bow. Harper finished with 19 points on 7 for 12 shooting with six rebounds and four assists as Rutgers (17-12, 11-8) moved one step closer to locking up an at large bid in this fluid Power 5 conference where road wins are rare commodities.
The Knights– who put together a four- game winning streak over four ranked teams– Michigan State, Ohio State and Wisconsin and Illinois–, at one- point last month to play its way into the NCAA picture, has one game left in the regular season against Penn State at home. They also may have pushed Indiana (18-11, 9-10), which has one remaining game left in the season against eighth ranked Purdue to the wrong side of the bubble.
The bloated Big Ten has a rare chance to send teams — Wisconsin, Purdue, Illinois, Michigan, Michigan State, Ohio State, Rutgers and possibly Indiana– to March Madness.
Rutgers interestingly has now won five straight over the Hoosiers and seven of the last eight in the series.
This game was not without its drama.
Rutgers guard Geo Baker gave the Knights a 57-56 lead with 2:36 remaining and the Knights stretched the lead to five points with 19.2 seconds left. Indiana’s Miller Kopp made a pair of free throws and then forced a turnover on the next series. Kopp got the ball to Parker Stewart, who nailed a tying three with 10 seconds to go before Harper’s sealed it. Rutgers’ valuable guard Paul Mulcahy was ejected with 10.2 seconds left after it appears he took a frustrated swing at Indiana’s Xavier Johnson, who was overly crowding him along the sideline. He could miss the Penn State finale.
Center Cliff Omoruyi also came up big for Rutgers, scoring 13 points and the 6-11 sophomore shut down IU’s 6-9 star Trayce Jackson Davis down the stretch after Davis scored 15 of his 19 points in the first half.
