Caden Pierce made the game-winning hook shot with five seconds left and Princeton stunned Rutgers 83-82 in a back-and-forth rivalry contest Saturday afternoon in Newark, N.J.
Pierce finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds and Xaivian Lee added 21 points, 11 assists and six rebounds as the duo carried Princeton (9-4) to its fifth win against Rutgers in the last six meetings.
Dylan Harper led all scorers with 22 points for Rutgers (7-5), but unlike last week when he made a buzzer-beating 3-pointer to defeat Seton Hall, his shot at the final horn didn’t go.
It was a two-point game in the closing minutes when Lee drove in for a layup. After Ace Bailey missed a pair of close shots and Princeton recovered possession, Lee converted a difficult reverse layup for an 81-75 lead, the Tigers’ largest of the game, with 2:28 to go.
Rutgers’ Jeremiah Williams made a jumper, Jamichael Davis forced a turnover and Bailey hit a baseline shot to cut it to two in the final minute.
Princeton had an inbounds pass with 20 seconds left that Williams leapt in to steal. The ball made it around to Bailey, who knocked down the go-ahead 3-pointer.
But Princeton sped down court and got the ball in Pierce’s hands for the decisive bucket.
Bailey added 15 points and 12 rebounds for Rutgers and Jordan Derkack scored 10.
Princeton outshot Rutgers 47.1 percent to 46 percent overall and 46.7 percent to 36.1 percent in the second half.
Neither team led by more than five in an entertaining first half that saw Rutgers shoot a red-hot 59.3 percent. The Tigers used 12 offensive rebounds for 14 second-chance points to stay in the game.
Lee was held scoreless until the 5:38 mark of the half, yet he hit the locker room with seven points and six assists. He tied the game at 42 by making a 3-pointer and adding a tough, falling layup.
Rutgers slipped behind by two before Harper scored two of his 17 first-half points and former Princeton forward Zach Martini sank two free throws to give the Scarlet Knights a 46-44 halftime edge.
Emmanuel Ogbole scored five straight points for the Scarlet Knights, who soon led 55-49. Princeton scored the next seven points while Rutgers missed eight straight shots, but Williams’ steal led to Davis burying a corner 3 in transition for a 58-56 lead with 13:16 left.
Lee made four free throws in a 31-second span to flip the lead back in Princeton’s favor, and after trading some baskets, Philip Byriel’s 3-pointer made it a 77-73 Tigers lead with about five minutes left.
–Field Level Media
