Rutgers' Dylan Harper gets injury update after coming off bench vs. Michigan State
Yesterday at 12:19 PM
You won’t find many college basketball fans or analysts who are willing to put up an argument against Duke’s Cooper Flagg as the best freshman in the country. However, if they do, it’s likely that the player they’ll name as opposition to Flagg plays for the Rutgers Scarlet Knights.
Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey combine to provide Rutgers with over 38 points, 12 rebounds and 5 assists per game, but on Saturday afternoon, the Knights were without Harper for much of the matchup with the Michigan State Spartans. Their big-bodied freshman guard came off the bench and scored just 6 points in 13 minutes of action in the 81-74 loss at Madison Square Garden. But the fact that Harper played at all was a surprise to Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell.
“He did everything possible to get back for this game,” Pikiell said of Harper, who sprained his ankle earlier in the week against Penn State, according to Chris Iseman of the Asbury Park Press. “I was proud of him to give it a try, he's been gritty and tough for us. Just going to take a little bit more time. I honestly didn’t think he was going to play.”
Harper’s freshman running mate Ace Bailey finished with 18 points and 9 rebounds against the Spartans, but was only 4-for-17 from the field. After the game, Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo acknowledged that his team benefitted from Harper playing only 13 minutes.
“That was a hell of an advantage for us not having him in there,” Izzo said following the win, which improved his Spartans to 17-2 on the season.
The loss dropped Rutgers to 10-10 for the year after entering the season ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll for just the fourth time in program history. Rutgers has reached the point where entering the NCAA Tournament field with an at-large bid feels like a pipe dream, so for the next month and a half, it will be up to Pikiell, Bailey and Harper to get this team prepared for what will be a must-win Big Ten Tournament.
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