Rutgers fans didn’t feel the raw emotions of college basketball in March for three decades.
They had the full spectrum on Sunday.
The 10 seed heads Scarlet Knights led Houston with two seed heads by 10 points, with 8:45, to play in their second round of the NCAA Tournament at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis, Indiana, on the night of Sunday, leaving a fan base hungry for success in a craze. But Rutgers was unable to hold back, granting a run of 14-2 in the last five minutes to fall, 63-60, for the cougars.
Here are some of the reactions to the wild ending on Twitter:
Here is the summary of the Associated Press contest:
Quentin Grimes scored 22 points, Tramon Mark converted a three-point play with 24 seconds left and Houston beat Rutgers 63-60 on Sunday night to reach Sweet 16.
DaJon Jarreau overcame a series of bumps and bruises to score a big bucket in the final stretch and finished with 17 points for Houston, who came in second (26-3). The Cougars play in 11th place at Syracuse next weekend for a spot in the Midwest region finals.
10th-placed Scarlet Knights (16-12) still had a chance after Mark’s free throws, but Geo Baker turned the ball over and Marcus Sasser made two more to increase the advantage. Rutgers ran back to the ground and Ron Harper Jr. launched a potential wing tie 3 that rang on the side of the rim when the final bell rang.
Baker finished with 14 points for Rutgers, but was holding back tears after his late upset. Montez Mathis also scored 10 points for Scarlet Knights, who failed to advance to Sweet 16 for the first time since 1976.
The difference in the program’s pedigrees was evident by the way they hit the ground at Lucas Oil Stadium.
The Cougars had the arrogance of a school they knew they belonged: five trips to the Final Four, the happy days of Guy V. Lewis and rebirth under Kelvin Sampson, and the Phi Slama Jama teams of Dream, the Glide and Silent Assassin.
The Scarlet Knights jumped moments later as if they were riding pogo sticks, unlimited joy and energy born from the fact that they had already done something that Rutgers had not accomplished in 38 years: winning a single NCAA tournament game.
Their confrontation for Sweet 16 was physical enough to make sense to play it in a football stadium.
Caleb McConnel hit the deck half a dozen times for Rutgers. The big guy from Houston, Reggie Chaney, was ready to knock anyone out in red. By the time the first half ended, and the Scarlet Knights had taken a 30-27 lead, Rutgers and Houston had two regular players in trouble.
Chaney sat with his fourth place at 15:45 from the end and the Scarlet Knights went on the attack. Paul Mulcahy and Jacob Young scored three points. Baker hit a jumper and a 3 of his own. And when there were 10 minutes to go, the Scarlet Knights had painstakingly built a 50-40 lead.
Worse for cougars? The sight of Jarreau, the blows to the body having taken their toll, holding his hips as he headed for the bank. The coaches spent several minutes working on the guard who does everything before he returned to the game.
I’m glad he went back to the floor.
The Cougars were slowly decreasing their deficit when Jarreau hit a 3-point basket to place them within 58-53 with just over 4 minutes remaining. Grimes added three points a few minutes later, and the two hit free throws, before Mark’s three-point play gave Houston the lead and set up the frantic finish.
(The Associated Press contributed to this report.)
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Brian Fonseca can be contacted at [email protected].