Dylan Harper’s greatness and three other reactions to Rutgers’ rivalry win
“It was just like a dream come true,” Harper said of his game-winner at the buzzer to beat Seton Hall.
PISCATAWAY – The shot was going in, without a second thought, long before it left his fingertips and hurtled through the air. There were no murmurs of the potential for overtime among the media and scouts in the overflow press room, because the game, though newly tied, would not be tied for long. We could have known as far back as December 2023 that the shot was going in, because when Dylan Harper affirmed his commitment to Rutgers, he was predestined to make a significant impact in the trajectory of Scarlet Knights basketball – to manage something like this.
It was Harper who made the go-ahead bucket with 10:48 to go to give Rutgers its first lead since 3-2. Harper who got himself a shot at the elbow to make it a four-point game in the final 51 seconds. Harper, yes, who missed two free throws late to ratchet up the drama. And it was always going to be Harper at the buzzer, his game-winning 3-pointer immediately adding him to the pantheon of the Rutgers-Seton Hall rivalry and New Jersey basketball at large.
“My thought process was just get the best shot possible,” Harper said. “When I came to the sideline, did a little curl, I saw everyone (on defense) collapsed. That was the only spot on the court so I went there and shot the ball. I worked on that a lot – I mean just reps, reps, reps. I mean, I was just confident in the shot.”
Rutgers played far from a perfect game in its 66-63 Garden State Hardwood Classic win over Seton Hall, but sometimes pure talent will get you over the hump. That’s going to happen with this team a few more times over the course of the season. Rutgers has had good players, but this isn’t something fans are used to on the banks – for a while it’s been all defense and no shot-makers, especially recalling the 45-43 loss Rutgers took the last time this game was played at the RAC in 2022.
Steve Pikiell confirmed the last play of the game was drawn up for Harper. Asked what he told players in the huddle, he said, “We were going to win.”
This was the rivalry series’ first buzzer-beater since Rutgers’ J.R. Inman made a running three from more than 30 feet away in 2008.
“I mean, what are you going to do?” Shaheen Holloway said. “That was a tough shot but we should have never been in that position.”
One of the best views in the house belonged to Jordan Derkack, who inbounded the ball to Harper with about 6 seconds left.
“Like I said, when I passed it in to him, I was like, ‘We gotta hurry up, let’s go,’” Derkack said. “And he actually told me, ‘I got it.’ I was like, ‘Alright, cool.’ He did a little in-and-out, and he shot it. I started going in (for a rebound), and I looked and I was like, ‘Looks pretty good.’ I just kind of let it go and it went right through the net. It was a special moment from him for sure.”
“It was just like a dream come true,” Harper said. “I mean, that’s something like as a kid, like you just in the backyard, ‘3, 2, 1, shoot it,’ it goes in, you just work on stuff like that.”
This is the kind of moment Rutgers fans have dreamed of, too, ever since Ron Harper Jr.’s little brother committed to the school. Saturday was arguably the wildest game-ending scene at the RAC since Ron beat Purdue at the buzzer from 40 feet.
Dylan Harper was asked to compare his own magic-making moment to his brother’s.
“I think his shot was one of the best shots in college basketball,” he said. “Beating the No. 1 team in the country, 30 points, 10 rebounds, halfcourt lean for game. All credit to him by me. His shot was better, but I think mine was more meaningful just because of the game and the type of environment and just the rivalry, just all the wins and losses that have been through this program.”
“I like both of them a lot,” Pikiell deadpanned.
The unavoidable free throw section
I start this portion of the newsletter by eating some crow. In my preview Tuesday, I said that it would benefit Rutgers for this game to turn into a free-throw shooting contest, as Seton Hall was making 60.3 percent of its free throws coming in and would have to deal with the hostile crowd (in its first true road environment of the year, to boot).
I was almost wrong. Rutgers nearly lost this game at the foul line. Both teams shot about 46 percent there, in fact, one of the worst combined free-throw shooting performances I’ll ever see.
Holloway was more focused on the number of attempts, saying, “A lot of things I want to talk about, I can’t talk about, but I just never been a part of the game when, you know, one team shoots 13 free throws, the other team shoots 28.” He’s far from the first coach in history to complain about a whistle, though how he phrased it a pretty funny unforced error in hindsight.
Yet Rutgers converted a mere 13 of those 28 shots. Ace Bailey was 1-for-8 despite shooting 80% from the stripe in November. He joined Harper (4-for-7) in missing two crucial free throws in the final minute to leave the door open for Isaiah Coleman to bring Seton Hall back.
It’s developing into an Achilles heel for Rutgers overall, as it had made at least 72% seven times in an eight-game span before going 14-for-25 against Penn State earlier in the week and even shoddier against Seton Hall. Even in the afterglow of a win, where these things might be glossed over, Harper was more than glad to acknowledge the shortcomings.
“I mean, I think missing free throws is in the Rutgers pipeline, because it’s been happening for years,” he quipped. “…But it’s just the gritty game, it’s the grind, you know. We’re going to work on that. Coach Pikiell’s just gonna keep on emphasizing the things we’ve got to do to be the best team we can be.”
Nobody can promise the problem won’t get worse before it gets better. But you get the sense that the players care, that they aren’t shying away from what they must improve when they easily could have waved away questions like this amid their celebration.
“If we shot the ball better, there would have been less (Seton Hall) rebounds,” Pikiell said. “And the way we miss free throws, there’s a lot of rebounds to collect off free throws.
“We got to get better in every area and I think this team can. So, it’s an exciting part (of the season). We’ll have a few weeks coming up here where I think we can do some stuff.”
Seton Hall slowly coming together
You can’t debate that this was Seton Hall’s best performance since beating VCU (now 9-2) in overtime at the Charleston Classic. In a noisy environment, the Pirates led the game for 29:17, played solid defense on almost everyone and got offensive contributions from players who had been dormant, like Yacine Toumi (10 points, two 3-pointers) and Emmanuel Okorafor (eight points, 10 rebounds, four on offense).
The star turned out to be one of the few players with experience in the rivalry game from last year. Coleman scored 13 of his team-high 15 points in the second half, adding six rebounds and four steals. He was the only Pirate still making plays at the end of the game, when he scored their final nine points and didn’t miss a free throw in the clutch.
“Isaiah going in and getting that offensive rebound and getting the foul, making those two free throws, it shows a lot,” Holloway said.
Seton Hall could only contain one of Rutgers’ twin stars at a time, but considering the talent gap at play, that was essentially the best outcome. It was a total team effort stopping Harper in the first half, with several defenders switching on to him, but Bailey went 7-for-9 for 15 points before halftime. But for a few 3-pointers, Bailey was kept in check in the second half, while Harper went off for 18 of his 24 points.
“Second half, I thought they got away from ball screens,” Holloway said of Rutgers. “They let Dylan go one-on-one. I thought that was a different – in the first half, he’s coming off ball screens. We were throwing different stuff at him. Second half, he just kind of paced that down and, you know, he drove to the basket. But, he’s a good player. Good players make good, big shots. He made a big shot.”
Holloway said Seton Hall had to let the rivalry loss sting on Saturday and then get back to work on Sunday. The Big East opener, at none other than rival Villanova, is Tuesday evening.
“This is how I want us to play, this is how I thought we were going to play and this is how we have to play for the rest of the year,” Holloway said. “You play like this, you give yourself a chance. And you just got to make some plays down the stretch.”
Rivalries need local involvement
Much ink was spilled in the leadup to this game discussing how much a local rivalry matters anymore in the age of college “free agency.” Here’s the complete list of who played in both last year’s game and this year’s edition: Isaiah Coleman, Dylan Addae-Wusu, Jamichael Davis. Holloway pointed out in the pregame buildup that his roster had zero scholarship guys from New Jersey or New York.
The Pirates certainly played like a team that wanted the trophy, a step up from last year, when Holloway said after the fact he didn’t think his guys “understood the magnitude of this game, the rivalry and how important this is.”
But most of the Jersey connections this year lay with Rutgers, starting with the man of the hour. My only question for Dylan Harper as the media room scrum began to form was how long he’d been dreaming of facing Seton Hall.
“Since I committed. Just seeing, watching my brother play and even last year, J-Mike, watching him play and watching them guys last year get after it. Gritty game. I just wanted to come in here and leave an impact in the game,” Harper said.
“Before the game, Coach Pike came to me and was like, ‘Let’s make history,’” he went on to add. “I mean, I think we made history today.”
Bailey hails from the suburbs of Atlanta – he’s still getting used to wintertime in the Northeast – but it didn’t take him long to learn about the Rutgers-Seton Hall rivalry.
“I watched it last year when J-Mike and Rutgers won,” Bailey said. “I told my team, ‘I want to win that trophy. I want to touch the trophy and see how it feels.’ Amazing rivalry. It’s a great rivalry to have.”
Warren’s Zach Martini now has a Garden State Hardwood Classic win on his resume as he prepares for his next game, a reunion with Princeton on Saturday in Newark. And Derkack, a Colonia native, had also dreamt of suiting up for this particular game.
Behind Harper and Bailey’s gaudy stats, the Merrimack transfer’s impact was unignorable: nine points, five rebounds, six fouls drawn and 5-for-6 from the stripe – 4-for-4 in the second half.
“It was a struggle for me to watch this game the last few years because I wanted to be a part of it so bad,” Derkack told me. “I know how aggressive it gets. I think that matches my play style. I like to get to the basket. I like to put pressure on the other team. And it means a lot being from Jersey. I’ve watched this game growing up. There’s been some dudes that have played in this game, and now we just added another moment to the rivalry.”
If there was any concern about the long-term health of this series, Saturday’s installment should carry it for years to come.