Any hopes for a Backyard celebration for Rutgers freshmen phenoms Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper needed to be placed on maintain.
A nagging ankle sprain for Harper and the robust protection of No. 8 Michigan State on Bailey restricted their affect on Saturday because the Scarlet Knights fell, 81-74.
Bailey completed with 18 factors on 4-for-17 taking pictures, whereas Harper put up six in restricted minutes.
Saturday’s sport drew loads of intrigue to the Backyard with Harper and Bailey each anticipated to be among the many prime picks on this June’s NBA draft, and one native workforce is more likely to be within the working to pick one of many native merchandise.
Paradoxically, play-by-play man for that workforce — the Nets — Ian Eagle was on the decision for CBS for this.
It additionally offered the possibility for the 2 to face the No. 8 workforce within the nation on a giant stage like MSG, which Bailey described as “a blessing.”
“A lot of people don’t get to play at the Garden,” Bailey stated. “Playing in front of 17,000 Rutgers fans, it was dope. It was fun. They gave us life towards the end. We started trapping and everything, feeding off the energy they were giving us.”
Bailey had his moments wherein he regarded just like the participant that was projected to be chosen within the prime 5, regardless of some robust defensive protection that stored him from placing up a fourth consecutive effort of at the very least 20 factors.
Bailey hit a 3-pointer early within the first half that despatched the Backyard right into a frenzy because the Scarlet Knights prolonged their lead on the time to 8-3.
He later ended a stretch of greater than 9 minutes the place Rutgers missed 11 consecutive photographs by hitting a turnaround jumper close to the nook.
Even along with his restricted minutes and ankle sprain, Harper confirmed flashes of the expertise that he has within the first half.
He got here away with a steal late within the first after which knocked down a jumper to drag Rutgers inside one with 3:44 left within the opening interval. He adopted it up with a robust transfer alongside the baseline for a layup with below 30 seconds within the half.
“They’re confident,” stated Michigan State head coach Tom Izzo, who additionally lamented the truth that Harper had been coping with an ankle situation.
“Ace is skinny, but he doesn’t play skinny. He’s got a great first step. He can get a shot off from anywhere. Dylan has got what seems like an extremely high basketball IQ. I mean a high basketball IQ and still a good shooter and he gets his differently than Ace does.”
Bailey, who had averaged 19.9 factors per sport coming into Saturday, felt he’s improved loads in numerous areas of his sport, specifically off the courtroom.
“Taking film more serious, because we didn’t get a lot of it in high school,” Bailey stated. “Just the little stuff, the small stuff that you think that’s not important. But that’s very important to the game and I improved on.”
Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell stated after the loss that Harper — restricted to only two minutes within the second half and 13 general — “was not great” after Friday’s apply and nonetheless wanted “a little bit more time” to heal.
Saturday’s loss noticed the Scarlet Knights soar out to a fast 10-3 lead, however a 16-3 Michigan State run in the midst of the primary half quieted down what had been a raucous MSG crowd early on.
Whereas Rutgers managed to even the rating at 28 with slightly below two within the first half, the Scarlet Knights couldn’t discover a technique to cease the Michigan State offense permitting 4 factors proper after they tied the sport.
They went into the half down three.
Michigan State prolonged that lead within the second half, going up by as a lot as 13 4 instances within the remaining 20 minutes.
Rutgers did handle to maintain the sport considerably shut right down to the wire.
Jordan Derkack, who completed with 26 factors, hit a late 3-pointer with below 30 seconds to drag the Scarlet Knights inside six.
