Rutgers Basketball: Takeaways after defeating Purdue while shorthanded

They can score without Ron Harper Jr.

It does not matter who it was against, where they were playing, or by how many. The bottom line is that the Rutgers Scarlet Knights won a basketball game against a Division I school while Ron Harper Jr was sitting out after suffering an ankle sprain in practice.

While it does not matter, the victory was against the Purdue Boilermakers who are currently the owners of a 2-1 Big Ten record, with victories over currently ranked No. 25 Ohio State by seven points and against an unranked Maryland team who just defeated No. 6 Wisconsin on Tuesday.

If it was not for the fact that Luka Garza plays in the Big Ten, Ron Harper Jr’s stat line of 23 points, seven rebounds and two assists would have him in the conversation of the conference’s Player of the Year.

Harper Jr’s scoring average is seven points higher than Jacob Young, while his Usage Rate is approximately 26 percent, less than two percent above Young’s. In the first half, it was Mathis with 11, Baker with 9, and Young with 7 spearheading the collective effort.

The greatest illustration of the team effort was when they gave up a 12-4 run and relinquished the lead to Purdue, it seemed the lack of Harper Jr. was catching up, yet it was Montez Mathis with 25 points and Geo Baker with 19  to lead them to victory.