NEW YORK, NY — Rutgers Men’s Basketball had a tall task Saturday afternoon against legendary coach Tom Izzo and his No. 8 ranked Michigan State squad at Madison Square Garden. It got even more challenging once Rutgers star guard Dylan Harper, of Franklin Lakes, New Jersey, was limited due to a sprained ankle.
Scarlet Knights head coach Steve Pikiell did a tremendous job adjusting on the fly with only 13 minutes played from Harper. This put Ace Bailey in a prime position to lead the charge, starting hot with five early points as Rutgers got out to a 10-3 lead at the first TV timeout at the 16:00 minute mark.
Ace Bailey dropped 18 points in Rutgers’ loss to Michigan State on Saturday afternoon at MSG – Image Credit: Tomasso DeRosa/Latino Sports
The Rutgers faithful then began to show out with most of the 17,000 thousand fans at the Garden decked out in red.
“That was a hell of a crowd out there… when I looked out there, I thought I would see a lot more green,” Izzo said of the environment. “I give the Rutgers people credit, that thing was red from a lot of areas.”
In the win, Tom Izzo’s Michigan State team experienced all what The Garden has in store for opposing teams – Image Credit: Tomasso DeRosa/Latino Sports
Unfortunately for Rutgers, Michigan State’s defense clamped down on Bailey, quickly minimizing his role as the Spartans started finding their rhythm offensively. He ended up having a very difficult game going 4-17 from the field with 18 points. Despite this, Bailey hung tough and battled all 38 minutes he was out there.
Harper gave it his best shot, only managing six points, including a huge bucket to cut the Michigan State lead to 26-25 before the final TV timeout of the first half with 3:44 remaining At that point, the MSG crowd went nuts and “RU’ chants flooded out of the arena.
Dylan Harper only played 13 minutes in Saturday’s loss to Michigan State due to an ankle injury – Image Credit: Tomasso DeRosa/Latino Sports
Alas, Rutgers was only down three points with a 35-32 score heading into the half. Junior guard Jordan Derkack, Harper’s backup, a Colonia, New Jersey native, came up huge with a game-high 26 points (7-11 FG, 4-7 3PT, 8-9 FT).
On the other side, Michigan State sucked the life out of the Rutgers crowd in the second half going up by as many as 13. To Rutgers’ credit, they fought until the final whistle only losing by seven points (81-74) — a valiant effort considering the fact Harper and Bailey only combined for 24 points. With the final buzzer sounding, Michigan State improved to 17-2 as Rutgers fell to 10-10.
Jase Richardson led Michigan State in the win with 20 points, four rebounds and one assist – Image Credit: Tomasso DeRosa/Latino Sports
Pikiell, currently in his 10th season at Rutgers, with a record of 142-132, has brought Rutgers back to relevance, but not to the degree fans were expecting this season with their two stars in Bailey and Harper.
“There’s still a season left,” Pikiell stated. “We can go on a little run here. I think we are close and I’m proud of these guys. They fight everyday. Our schedule has been the toughest I’ve played since I’ve been here. Seasons never go the way everyone thinks.”
As Rutgers sits at .500, (10-10), Steve Pikiell stills holds confidence in this team making a run – Image Credit: Tomasso DeRosa/Latino Sports
Bailey, reflecting on his growth this season and the things he can improve on going forward, said, “I can improve on rebounding, defense, and better communication with talking on the defense side. I feel like I’ve developed mentally, physically and taking care of my body, and watching more film because we barely did that in high school.”
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