Rutgers surges back, comes up short against Notre Dame in Players Era

Looking to rebound from a porous effort in the inaugural game of the Players Era, Rutgers (4-3) gave Notre Dame (5-2) all they could handle before falling 68-63.

The Scarlet Knights were embarrassed by the No. 17 Tennessee Volunteers in their opening matchup of the festival. The Fighting Irish fell short against Kansas Jayhawks, who were notably without star freshman Darryn Peterson, in their first game out in Las Vegas.

Notre Dame jumped out to a 19-point lead in part to a 22-to-4 scoring run over the middle 10 minutes of the first half. During that stretch, the Rutgers offense struggled mightily with turnovers and simply could not put the ball in the basket. They finished the half with more turnovers than made field goals.

Rutgers captured some momentum heading into the locker room, however, scoring the final seven points of the half to trim the deficit to 12. The Scarlet Knights would continue to battle in the second half, cutting the Irish lead to as little as four. Notre Dame left the door ajar late, but the shots stopped falling for Rutgers, and they came up short of a comeback victory.

Star lead-guard Markus Burton did it all for the Irish, putting up an efficient 21 points on 9-of-13 shooting, while also leading the team in rebounds, assists, and steals. Five-star freshman Jalan Haralson struggled early, but finished the game with 15 points on 6-of-12 shooting, all coming from inside the paint. Braeden Shrewsberry added 13 points and three triples.

Rutgers comeback attempt was spear-headed by junior guard Jamichael Davis, who easily had his best performance of the young season. Davis eclipsed 20 points for the first time in his career, and hit a career-best five triples, while also contributing three rebounds and three assists. Dylan Grant also had the best game of his career from the perimeter, connecting on three of his five three pointers. Grant had 15 points and seven rounds in a team-high 34 minutes of action. NJIT transfer Tariq Francis scored 10 points, but struggled early with foul trouble.

Early deficit to much to overcome

Rutgers started the game with an exceptional defensive effort, forcing Notre Dame to miss their first seven shot attempts. The Scarlet Knights struggled to capitalize on the offensive end, managing just one made three-pointer before the Fighting Irish opened up the scoring.

Solid paint defense from Emmanuel Ogbole and a pair of threes from Dylan Grant had the game tied with just under 15 minutes to go in the first half. Notre Dame went on a devastating 22-to-4 over the next 10:40 to take an 18-point lead as the game approached the under-four timeout.

Despite their best efforts, the Scarlet Knights came up short. The game continued to sway back and forth as Rutgers crept ever closer to matching Notre Dame on the scoreboard. The team is not constructed to make up that many points over the course of a game, and simply could not get over the hump.

Rutgers has struggled to put together a complete game this year. Over the course of the final 24 minutes of the game, the Scarlet Knights outscored the Irish 46-32. There is no discarding the opening 16 minutes, and this team must find a way to avoid spotting teams this many points once conference play comes around.

Better effort on the perimeter

The Fighting Irish started the game 5-of-7 from behind the arc, with tough shots coming from Markus Burton and Braeden Shrewsberry. The Scarlet Knights would clamp down on the perimeter, and Notre Dame would connect on just three of their last 11 three point attempts.

Unfortunately for Rutgers, Notre Dame’s last make from three-point range was the most important. The Scarlet Knights had trimmed the lead to four points, and reserve guard Logan Imes hit one from the wing to push the lead back up to seven. A couple of buckets from Burton extended the lead to 11 with just under three minutes to play. Rutgers would not get any closer than five for the remainder of the contest.

Surprisingly, the perimeter shooting for Rutgers was the driver in their comeback effort. After starting the game 3-of-3 from behind the arc, the Scarlet Knights would go on to miss their next eight three point attempts, and fall into a massive hole.

Switching sides of the court must have meant a lot, as Rutgers hit eight of their first 11 three pointers in the second half. Jamichael Davis lead the way from deep, Dylan Grant put in a few triples, and Tariq Francis, Denis Badalau, and Harun Zrno all hit one.

The Scarlet Knights would go cold down the stretch, missing their final five three point attempts. They were not all bad looks, the shots just did not fall when they needed them most.

Team shows signs despite quick turnaround

It would have been very easy for Steve Pikiell and crew to pack it in following a national embarrassment to open up Feast Week. Instead, the team put forth their most compelling effort of the season. It is obviously not ideal to pluck at moral victories, but the second half against Notre Dame was what a winning effort out of this group should look like.

The unforced errors and apparent lack of chemistry mostly vanished in the second half, and the team was competing defensively. Contributions came from up and down the roster, as Bryce Dortch mostly took the reins at the center position in the second half. Freshmen Lino Mark and Chris Nwuli played with high intensity, with Nwuli contributing to the near comeback down the stretch.

This was easily the most encouraging effort of the season, and should certainly be something for the Scarlet Knights to build on as they enter their final matchup in Las Vegas.

Up next

After dropping their first two contests in the Players Era, Rutgers Basketball will most likely play a third, and final game in Las Vegas on Thursday. The opponent and time-slot will be determined by the results of today’s remaining matchups.