Rutgers and Notre Dame were two of eight teams invited to the inaugural Players Era Festival, an event in Las Vegas that hopes to use NIL opportunities to shake up the sport.
Tournament organizers surely weren’t expecting both Rutgers and Notre Dame to head to Vegas after upset losses.
The Scarlet Knights and Fighting Irish will try to have short memories as they face off in their opening game of the festival on Tuesday night.
Rutgers (4-1) dropped out of the new AP Top 25 poll Monday, less than 24 hours after a stunning 79-77 loss at Kennesaw State. The Scarlet Knights trailed by 21 early in the second half before a furious rally came up short.
Rutgers scheduled the game as a homecoming for Atlanta-area natives Ace Bailey and Jamichael Davis. Bailey, one of two five-star freshmen to raise Rutgers’ profile this season, had 17 points but shot 6-for-17, grabbed only one rebound and threw a bad-pass turnover on Rutgers’ final chance to tie the game or take the lead.
Davis, a sophomore guard, had zero points, assists and rebounds in 12 minutes off the bench.
“(It’s) probably a lot here, coming home for him, but Ace is a good player and he has to … live through some of these experiences,” Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said of the NBA prospect. “I have a lot of faith in him, and I want to make sure, one of the big things that he’s gotta continue to do for us is rebound, and that’s something that he didn’t do a great job of (Sunday), but he will.”
Dylan Harper, Rutgers’ other freshman star, had 21 points and nine assists and leads the team in both categories (19.8 and 5.2, respectively).
Notre Dame (4-1) had a solid start to the season before encountering trouble in an 84-77 loss to visiting Elon on Friday. Elon shot 57.1 percent from the floor, with 19 assists to just 10 turnovers.
“Our defense broke down,” said coach Micah Shrewsberry, whose team was outscored 10-2 in the last 1:34. “You can’t give up two layups at the end of the game when you’re itching to get stops, and that’s where we gotta be better.”
Markus Burton scored 25 points and Braeden Shrewsberry had 22 to power Notre Dame’s offense. The duo combined for 9-of-18 shooting from distance. They are the top two scorers for the Irish this year at 21.4 and 14.8 ppg, respectively.
The last time these programs met, Notre Dame defeated Rutgers 89-87 in a double-overtime game in the NCAA Tournament First Four in 2022.
On Wednesday, Rutgers faces No. 9 Alabama and Notre Dame plays No. 6 Houston. Each team’s Saturday opponent will be determined by results from both of the event’s two four-team groups.
–Field Level Media
