No. 1 Purdue falls to unranked Rutgers on Ron Harper Jr. halfcourt buzzer-beater

All Ron Harper Jr. needed was four seconds to pull off one of the greatest shots of the college basketball season and stun No. 1 Purdue.

No. 1 Purdue’s stay atop the polls will likely be a quick one as Ron Harper Jr.’s halfcourt heave gave the Boilermakers their first loss of the season, 70-68, at Rutgers on Thursday.

The Boilermakers (-13.5 at Tipico) trailed at the half and didn’t regain a lead until five minutes into the second. An 18-5 run put Purdue ahead by 10 with a little more than eight minutes left to play. Rutgers (+650 ML) slowly chipped away over the ensuing minutes to pull the game to within one at the 1:07 mark. Chaos ensued from there.

Both teams exchanged costly turnovers. Purdue’s Trevion Williams was charged with an offensive foul, Harper Jr. threw an errant pass out of bounds with 24 seconds remaining and Boilermakers guard Jaden Ivey got caught traveling trying to escape a double-team in the backcourt.

The following 20 seconds would go like this:

  • Harper Jr. dribbles to the middle of the court and sinks a contested mid-range jumper, putting the Scarlet Knights ahead 67-66.
  • Williams isolates out of the post and sinks a right-handed layup to re-take a one-point lead.
  • With four seconds remaining, Harper Jr. takes the inbound pass and dribbles past halfcourt to hit a running three-point shot as time expires to give Rutgers a 70-68 win.

Purdue took over the AP’s top-ranking just days ago for the first time in school history after the previous No. 1  Duke Blue Devils dropped a road game to Ohio State last week. The Boilermakers’ 70-68 loss makes them the third No. 1 seed to lose in as many weeks.

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