PISCATAWAY – Reports of the Rutgers-Seton Hall rivalry’s demise may have been premature.
From the poster dunk by Seton Hall’s Chaunce Jenkins on star freshman Ace Bailey in the first half, to the roof blowing off the RAC when Rutgers’ Dylan Harper, their other standout frosh, drained a long 3-pointer as time expired to give Rutgers a 66-63 victory, the annual in-state battle appeared as strong as ever.
And with the first buzzer-beater in 16 years, maybe stronger.
So there were only three players total on the two rosters who had ever experienced the rivalry before, a byproduct of the transfer portal era and NIL dollars resulting in annual roster upheavals. It didn’t seem to matter.
“It’s a rivalry game. It always comes down to this,” Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said.
“It’s always a great game. Seton Hall is tough as nails. I think (coach) Sha (Shaheen Holloway) is one of the best coaches in the country and did a fantastic job Obviously, our crowd was awesome.”
It was hard to tell which team was playing to save its NCAA Tournament dreams, with Rutgers looking to avoid a devastating Quad 4 loss, and which was playing to save face, with Seton Hall having lost to three mid-majors.
In the end, it was one that will be fondly remembered, while Harper’s heroics forever securing him a place in the game’s rich lore, even if the Garden State native ends up only playing in it one time.
“This was a good game. I thought it was good for the fans, this is a tough place to play,” Holloway said. “The fans were into it.”
The emotional swings were huge throughout. When Harper’s 15-footer with 51 seconds left swished, it looked like the beginning of the end for Seton Hall, as crowd went berserk. And when Isaiah Coleman sank a pair of free throws to tie the game at 63-all with 6.4 seconds left, you could hear a pin drop.
“It means a lot just having watched my brother play,” said Harper, a Don Bosco Prep product whose brother, Ron Harper Jr., had his share of dramatic moments for the Scarlet Knights. “It’s a tough rivalry game, people scrapping, playing their hearts out. Coach Pikiell told all of us this game is real lively. Just go out and play Rutgers basketball. We definitely have to play better, but we won.”
Seton Hall came out with a swagger. The Pirates were unimpressed by the fact that Harper and Bailey could both be NBA Draft lottery picks next year. The program’s upset at the RAC two years earlier looked like it could happen again, this time in stunning fashion, with the Pirates having lost two weeks ago to 1-10 Monmouth.
The Pirates cranked up the defensive intensity early on, forcing nine runovers in the first 13 minutes, building a 22-15 lead on a Chaunce Jenkins triple. But in the end, the Rutgers young stars were too much, with Harper and Bailey combining for 45 points.
“I thought we played well enough to win,” Holloway said. “I thought our gameplan was really good, our defense was solid, we just made some plays down the stretch that were not good for us.
“I’m a sore loser. I hate to lose. This is a great rivalry game. That’s why we play them. I’ve been in volved in a few that were really good, really impactful.”
Circle this one for Rutgers. It won’t be remembered come March for being a resume builder. But this was a tough, grind-it-out type game against a good defensive foe, which will pay dividends when the Scarlet Knights are deep into Big Ten play, when winning ugly is part of the deal some nights.
Nothing good could happen for them in this one. If they beat the Pirates, they were supposed to. And if they lost, it was a crushing moment in the quest to play in March Madness. More than anything, what happened Saturday afternoon was a sign that the rivalry can endure the ever-shifting landscape of college basketball.
