Harper’s Last Second Shot Sends Rutgers Home Victorious

For the second time this season Ron Harper Jr. rose to the occasion, put the Scarlet Knights on his back and delivered the game winning shot that sent Rutgers Nation into a tizzy. With 2.1 seconds to go on the road at Indiana, in a game that was tied at 63 a piece, Harper nailed the game winning three-pointer to send Rutgers to its 17th win of the year, while snapping a three game losing streak.

The fight for a NCAA Tournament spot is back on.

Coming up big in the clutch is nothing new for Harper. He's done it all year. His most famous shot of the season, before this one, came December 9 at home against Purdue, when his game winner beat the number 1 team in the land at the time 70-68. Now he did it again, on a big stage on the road, against a team that is also on the fringe of the tournament puzzle.

"It was a great moment," Harper Jr. said. "I had kind of seen Geo (Baker) when I was inbounding the ball. His man was pressuring him, so I called for it. Coach Pikiell always says he trusts in me in that moment. Once I let it go, it felt real good. I got good rotation on the ball and it was in rhythm. I just saw it go up and knew it was good."

Rutgers trailed by seven at the half, and fought like heck to get back into the game in the second half. They even had a brief lead with 2:34 to go when Geo Baker nailed a three-pointer that gave Rutgers a 57-56 lead. Clifford Omoruyi tacked on a couple of free-throws to make it a three-point game, but that lead was short lived.

Indiana fought back, and tied the game at 63 on Parker Stewart's massive three-pointer with 10 seconds to go. But that didn't deter Rutgers, and it certainly didn't stop Harper from making some magic of his own.

Rutgers wraps up the regular season on Sunday against Penn State at 12 noon. Catch the action on 93.5 FM, 1450 AM Fox Sports New Jersey.