Rutgers’ Dylan Harper, Ace Bailey wow Alabama’s Oats in loss

LAS VEGAS — Since being hired in 2019, Nate Oats has coached three graduates who eventually became first-round picks in the NBA, including Brandon Miller, the former SEC Player of the Year and No. 2 in 2023.

After projected top-five picks Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey combined for 59 points for Rutgers, albeit in a 95-90 loss to No. 9 at Alabama on Wednesday in the Players Era Festival, Oats said he’s confident the duo belongs in the same conversation as the other elite freshmen he’s witnessed in college basketball.

“We’ve had a couple ourselves,” the Alabama coach said, “and these guys are up there.”

Harper, a 6-foot-6 guard, scored a career-high 37 points, becoming the first Big Ten freshman in the last 20 seasons to score 94 points in a three-game span and the first Division I freshman in that span to record back-to-back efforts of 35-plus points, according to ESPN Research.

Harper, who shot 11-of-19 from the field and 15-of-16 from the free throw line, produced his best game yet at the MGM Grand Garden Arena as his father, former NBA standout Ron Harper Sr., sat courtside. .

Oats said he couldn’t find a formula to slow Harper, whose layup with 2:23 left cut Alabama’s lead to one before the Tide tied the game at the free throw line.

“(Harper) I mean he pretty much gets to the rim when he wants to,” he said. “We didn’t have anybody that could stay in front of him on ball screens. We didn’t do a very good job. I mean, he’s got some power, some physicality, some strength coming down the hill.”

Bailey, a 6-foot-10 talent who could challenge Duke’s Cooper Flagg for the top spot in the upcoming NBA draft, also excelled Wednesday, mostly with high-arching jump shots that looked blockable.

Bailey capped off a fast break in the first half with a dunk that energized the Rutgers fans who made the trip. Bailey pounded his chest and bent over en route to 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the field.

“He’s the best mid-range shot maker I’ve seen,” Oats said of Bailey. “He kind of towers over guys. The floater with the touch, he’s tough. We didn’t do a good job. We needed more size on him. He’s a guy that if you don’t have size on him, he’s just shooting over 6-2, 6-3, 6-4 guards and he’s going to cause some problems.”

Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said the tough tests early will help his team later in the season. For now, he has a group that is still learning while relying on a few elite first-year talents, he said.

“I think it’s similar to something, the journey,” he said. “You grow through your seasons and you grow through the games, and this is as talented a team as we’re going to face. It’s definitely the deepest team.”

Harper said he is more focused on the loss than his individual efforts. But he also said the growing pains his team endured Wednesday will prove beneficial as he and Bailey continue to develop during their first season of college basketball.

“I think we just showed that we can compete with anybody in the country,” he said after the game. “I mean, obviously we came up short, but I feel like as a team, sometimes you have to come up short to have the season you want to have.”

Despite the win, Oats spoke like a coach who believed his team had lost. Alabama, which is ranked No. 3 in the nation in adjusted offensive efficiency on KenPom, had 20 turnovers and also endured a lengthy second-half scoring drought.

Oats said Rutgers would continue to get better, especially as Harper and Bailey develop. And that reality will create problems for the rest of the teams on their schedule.

“If they play like they did tonight, they’re one of the best teams in the country,” Oats said. “They have two of the most talented players, regardless of grade.”