Photo: Alton Strupp/Indystar
A Johnny-come-lately Rutgers fan and a long-time suffering Rutgers fan had to be thinking something good was happening for Rutgers basketball on Sunday night.
The Scarlet Knights outplayed the Houston Cougars for most of the second half in the Round of 32. They made shots, and they forced Houston to turn the ball over and miss shots. Rutgers players certainly felt good about themselves. A Sweet 16 meeting against Syracuse seemed to be Rutgers’ destiny. They wouldn’t be denied with Steve Pikiell on the sidelines and Geo Baker on the court.
Everything aligned for a celebration until it was not. With five minutes to go in the game, Rutgers turned the ball over and started missing shots. The Cougars created their own momentum by making shots of their own. Rutgers couldn’t do anything about it, and in the end, Sweet 16 dreams disappeared and heartbreak entered.
Rutgers finished its successful season with a 63-60 loss to Houston at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. In the end, Geo Baker and Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell could only answer what went wrong and wondered what could have been.
Face it. This was a choke job. There’s nothing else that can be said here. A team played to lose and played tight while Houston took advantage of it. Rutgers played like a team that had no idea how to handle adversity in that spot while Houston played like a team that has been there and done that in the tournament.
Yes, we all knew Houston was a good team. Rutgers certainly knew. Say what you want about Houston coach Kelvin Sampson being shady when it comes to recruiting tactics such as impermissible recruiting calls that forced him to resign at Oklahoma and lose his job at Indiana, but he can coach. He showed that down the stretch when his team showed composure.
Houston made its move after trailing 58-49 with 4:33 to go in the game. It began with Tramon Mark making 1 of his 2 free throws on a Myles Johnson foul. Then, Myles Johnson missed a dunk that was set up on a pass by Baker. Houston guard DeJon Jarreau capitalized on Rutgers’ blown dunk by shooting a three, cutting the deficit to five. Quentin Grimes missed a free throw, and Rutgers inexplicably failed to box out and get the rebound. The ball bounced on a miss free throw that landed to Grimes, who passed it to Jarreau, who handed it back to Grimes, who shot the three.
With Rutgers holding on to a 58-56 lead, one can sense Rutgers played tight right there. Failing to box out indicated that. It seemed like Rutgers hope it got the ball by luck rather than making it happen. That failed play that translated to Grimes hitting the three turned out to be the turning point of the game. Houston felt like it could win the game right there.
With Houston cutting its deficit to 60-58 with 43 seconds to go, Rutgers needed an answer. Instead, Jacob Young dribbled around in an attempt to find an open guy and then he threw the ball away. The Cougars capitalized on that on Mark’s 3-point play, giving them a 61-60 lead.
It was on Baker to desperately do something here. Right guy. Right spot.
Baker had the ball and he was ready to shoot until he turned the ball away that had Marcus Sasser having an opportunity to put the game away until Harper fouled him from making a layup.
Sasser hit two free throws, and Harper desperately tried to hit a 3-pointer to go to overtime just to see it fall short. Meltdown completed by Rutgers. Regrets and shock replaced euphoria for Rutgers and its fanbase.
Rutgers lost this game more than Houston won. The Knights did not do the things to win games. Houston had some say in it, but it was on Rutgers to show composure. Instead, the moment turned out to be big for them. It did not help Caleb McConnell fouled out with 1:07 to go. His absence hurt Rutgers in a sense his defense was missed.
As good of a job Pikiell did as Rutgers coach, he came up small himself when he could not run up some plays on offense to get Rutgers to score points down the stretch. Rutgers hoped for some foul calls on Houston. He could not get his players to play with composure.
We can talk about what a good season Rutgers had, but it’s not a crime to say the team choked and blew a golden opportunity to go to the Sweet 16. Opportunities don’t come often for a team like Rutgers, who will never be confused with Syracuse, Kansas, Gonzaga or other successful programs. We haven’t had a metropolitan-area college basketball program go to the Sweet 16 since 2000 (the year Seton Hall made it), which is an unacceptable drought in an area that produces good basketball players.
It’s no wonder Baker said on a Zoom call after the game he may never get over it now that he’s graduating as a senior.
He knows opportunities don’t come often.
