Dylan Harper dropped a career-high 36 points and Rutgers fended off Matt Allocco and Notre Dame 85-84 in overtime to conclude a wild first day of the Players Era Festival on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.
Allocco forced overtime by making a 3-pointer with seven seconds remaining.
With the Fighting Irish ahead by one, Harper tossed a pass to Jeremiah Williams for an open corner 3 that made it 75-73 at the 2:53 mark. Rutgers poked the ball free and Jordan Derkack scored on the fast break for a two-possession game.
Notre Dame had no choice but to foul Rutgers, and Allocco drilled three 3-pointers in a 26-second span. The third, as he leaned into his defender, tied it at 84 with 15 seconds left.
But Irish freshman Cole Certa, unaware of the tie score, then fouled Harper, who sank 1 of 2 free throws. Notre Dame drew up one last look for Allocco, whose 3-pointer at the buzzer just missed.
Rutgers (5-1) will face No. 9 Alabama and Notre Dame (4-2) will take on No. 6 Houston on Wednesday before the championship day matchups can be set.
Harper had six rebounds, six assists and just one turnover in the highest-scoring game by any freshman this season. Derkack had 16 points, and Williams and Ace Bailey each scored 10 for Rutgers.
Notre Dame played most of the game without leading scorer Markus Burton, who hobbled off with a right leg injury less than four minutes in. Rutgers center Emmanuel Ogbole fell onto Burton’s legs during a play for the ball.
Allocco stepped up. The only player for either team to play all 45 minutes, he finished with 24 points, six 3-pointers, 10 rebounds and five assists. Braeden Shrewsberry had 12 of his 16 points before halftime, Tae Davis scored 15 points and Burke Chebuhar scored 11 and secured seven rebounds.
Harper picked up two early fouls but still scored nine of Rutgers’ first 14 points, his fastbreak layup cutting Notre Dame’s lead to two at the 9:50 mark. Shrewsberry countered with his third 3-pointer of the contest, igniting a 9-1 spurt for Notre Dame’s biggest lead at 25-15.
Derkack scored eight points in the final 5:13 of the half, and his tough layup in the final minute cut Rutgers’ halftime deficit to 35-34.
Each team had a stretch of five consecutive baskets during the second half, and the largest lead for either side was six, when Logan Imes and Chebuhar drilled 3-pointers on consecutive possessions to give Notre Dame a 62-56 lead with 7:08 to go.
Rutgers answered with a crucial 9-0 run. Harper put the Scarlet Knights ahead 63-62 with a three-point play and then set up Derkack for a two-handed jam.
Notre Dame was scoreless for 4:57 before Davis made two free throws. Then Allocco hit a go-ahead layup with 1:26 left in regulation. Bailey made a jumper and Derkack converted two foul shots to give Rutgers a 69-66 edge, setting up Allocco’s heroics.
