Rutgers is without his best player for Tuesday night’s competition against Purdue.
Junior striker Ron Harper Jr. is out of competition No. 14 Scarlet Knights against the Boilermakers at the Rutgers Athletic Center due to an ankle injury, a school official confirmed to NJ Advance Media.
“Ron Harper sprained his ankle, so Ron won’t be available tonight,” said coach Steve Pikiell in his pre-match interview with Jerry Recco and Joe Boylan of IMG Radio. “Other guys need to introduce themselves and be ready to go.”
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Harper Jr. left the locker room in normal clothes during the warm-up before the game, just over an hour before tipping.
“It’s okay on this side”, Harper Jr. tweeted just over half an hour before the tip. “My soldiers ready … mentality of the next man !!”
Harper Jr. leads the Scarlet Knights in scoring (23.4 points per game), three-point shot percentage (50%) and takes second place in the team in rebounds (7.1 per game).
“Rutgers mainly won games (last season) because of their balanced defense and attack. Well, (Rutgers coach) Steve Pikiell has a legitimate star now, ”wrote ESPN’s Jeff Borzello last week. “Ron Harper Jr. has made as big a leap between the second and third years as anyone in the country and is playing basketball in an incredible way.”
The Scarlet Knights are also without Cliff Omoruyi, who remains out with a knee sprain. Junior guard Jacob Young and Mawot Mag are active for the competition.
Young suffered what coach Steve Pikiell called a “scary fall” in the second half of the Scarlet Knights’ defeat to then-null. 23 Ohio State last Wednesday, landing hard after a dunk (see part on here) He needed the help of Pikiell and trainer Richard Campbell to get up after the fall and was caught shivering in pain from the Big Ten Network broadcast.
Mag lost the Scarlet Knights’ last two fights with a sprained ankle he sustained in practice. He can make his Big Ten debut on Tuesday after losing the first three competitions of the conference.
Rutgers has had four players lost in at least one injured game this season: Harper Jr., Mag (two games), Omoruyi (Tuesday is his second consecutive lost game) and senior guard Geo Baker (three games).
“Staying healthy has become a problem,” said Pikiell. “We were very lucky in the last four, five years, we didn’t have to deal with much and now we have guys being hurt in the same league. We’ll have to find out, that’s what we do. “
Rutgers (6-1, 2-1) seeks his third consecutive victory over the Boilermakers (after winning the season series in the 2019-20 campaign.
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Brian Fonseca can be reached at [email protected].