Dylan Harper writes his name in Rutgers history books with buzzer-beater to beat Seton Hall

Dylan Harper raises Boardwalk Trophy aloft after his buzzer-beating three lifted Rutgers past archrival Seton Hall. (Photo by Rutgers Athletics)

By Sam Federman (@Sam_Federman)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Three years and five days ago, Ron Harper, Jr. knocked off No. 1 Purdue at the buzzer with a heave from nearly half-court inside the RAC.

Today, his younger brother Dylan had his turn at glory.

With six seconds left in a tied rivalry game, the five-star freshman got the inbound pass from Jordan Derkack.

“I wanted him to catch it on the run,” Derkack said. “He just wanted to catch it and start going. So I told him to hurry up, and he just told me to relax.”

Calm, cool, and collected, Harper crossed half-court, and found his spot. He launched the ball with his foot on the arena logo about 28 feet from the basket, and it went through the net.

After the game, Harper looked at his phone, and the first text he saw was from his older brother.

“It must run in the Harper pipeline, making game winners,” it read.

Harper acknowledged that Ron’s shot was more impressive, as it came at the end of a 30-point double-double against the top team in the country, was from half-court, and turned a loss into a win. But he maintains that his shot is more meaningful, capping off a come-from-behind rivalry win.

His coach has a different perspective.

“I like both of them, a lot,” Steve Pikiell said.

After a slow first half, Harper exploded with 18 second half points to lead Rutgers back from a double digit deficit to win, 66-63, in the Garden State Hardwood Classic against longtime rival Seton Hall. 

Without an empty seat inside the RAC on Saturday, Harper had to adjust to his first rivalry environment.

On the second possession of the game, Seton Hall blitzed a ball screen, and successfully pressured Harper. He backpedaled and tried to throw the ball up, but it clasped into the high-reaching hands of Pirate big man Emmanuel Okorafor. As Seton Hall ran the other way, Harper committed a frustration foul.

Seton Hall threw the kitchen sink at Rutgers in the first half, trying to force the ball out of Harper’s hands as much as possible. The Pirates succeeded in that, forcing him to turn it over three times and attempt just five shots in 14 minutes. He sat much of the final six due to picking up his second foul as well.

Ace Bailey picked up the slack, scoring 15 points on tough shot after tough shot, keeping Rutgers alive. But it was Harper that brought the building alive in the second half.

The Rutgers gameplan changed, and instead of allowing Seton Hall’s defense to dictate the flow, the Scarlet Knights told their hometown superstar to go to work.

“They got away from ball screens, and let Dylan go 1-on-1,” Seton Hall coach Shaheen Holloway said. “The first half, he was coming off ball screens, and we were throwing different stuff at him. In the second half, he just kind of put his head down, and was driving to the basket. He’s a good player. Good players make big shots, he made the big shot.”

Down by 10, Harper drained a three, sparking a big run, but also generated points with his drives.

“I gotta be more caring with the ball,” he said of what he changed. “Just not letting the ball get out of my hands so easily, just being myself and not letting that happen.”

With just under 11 minutes to play, Harper capped a 15-4 run with a layup to give the Scarlet Knights their first lead since the early stages of the contest.

While Yacine Toumi responded with a bucket of his own, Harper had another answer.

Standing a few feet above the arc on the right side, he received a pass from Derkack, stationed at the foul line. Harper calmly stepped into a triple, and Rutgers took a 49-47 lead.

Harper hit what he may have thought was the dagger, a turnaround jumper with 51 seconds left to give RU a 63-59 edge, but after Bailey missed two free throws and Isaiah Coleman drew a foul down two with six seconds left, the game was tied.

There was no other place the ball was going.

“We’re just gonna win,” Pikiell said of the gameplan on the final possession, which came after a timeout.

The crowd was already chanting Harper’s name earlier in the second half, but when the final shot dropped, he cemented himself as a Rutgers legend.

“It’s like a dream come true,” he said. “That’s something that as a kid, you’re just in the backyard, ‘3, 2, 1, shoot it, go in,’ you just work on stuff like that.”

He finished with 24 points, about in line with his season averages. He continues to lead the Big Ten in scoring as an 18-year-old freshman, and today’s performance, in front of dozens of NBA scouts, gave them yet another reason to drool over his game.

But after all, we shouldn’t have expected anything less. His star teammate didn’t think so.

“He’s Dylan,” Bailey said. “Everybody expects it to work out. He shot the ball, everybody else crashed, and he made it.”