How Rutgers Scarlet Knights Fared Against NCAA Tournament Teams

The NCAA Tournament kicks off on Thursday afternoon with the Round of 64 taking over the next two days.

Instead of preparing for a run in the dance with two elite freshmen, the Scarlet Knights are wondering what went wrong this season.

Rutgers finished 15-17 with a loss in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. The Scarlet Knights played a total of 10 teams that will take part in the NCAA Tournament this weekend. Let's see how they fared against these teams over the course of the season.

Players Era Festival

11/27: L, 95-90 vs. Alabama

11/28: L, 81-77 vs. Texas A&M

The Scarlet Knights entered the Players Era Festival in Las Vegas while hopes were still high. The team was 5-1 and coming off an overtime victory against Notre Dame. Harper scored a career-high 37 points against Alabama but Rutgers could not get that signature victory needed early in the season.

Michigan

2/1: L, 66-63

2/27: L, 84-82

The series that will stick with fans for years. Rutgers lost twice to Michigan this season by a total of five points. In Ann Arbor, the Scarlet Knights led with three seconds remaining but Nimari Burnett's buzzer-beating three sunk Rutgers for good.

Wisconsin

1/6: L, 75-63

Harper was not fully healthy in this contest, playing just 15 minutes without scoring a point. Bailey had one of his worst shooting nights going 3-for-16 from the field. Pair these facts with being unable to stop John Blackwell and Steven Crowl and Rutgers never had a chance in this early January contest.

Maryland

2/9: L, 90-81

Rutgers struggled defenively all year long and this did not bode well against a high-scoring Maryland team. The Terps scored 49 points in the first half and flexed their muscles early. Derik Queen dominated a small Rutgers squad with 29 points and 15 rebounds and Maryland cruised.

Purdue

1/9: L, 68-50

3/4: L, 100-71

The low point of the season, and years past, was the trip to West Lafayette. Rutgers trailed from the start and could not get anything going on either end of the floor. Purdue reached 100 and this jump started conversations around the program.

Michigan State

1/25: L, 81-74

Rutgers and Michigan State returned to Madison Square Garden in January for this matchup. It would have been labeled the Jordan Derkack Game if Rutgers would have been able to come out on top. Derkack had his best night with the Scarlet Knights with 26 points but a 46-point second half led the Spartans to victory.

Oregon

2/16: L, 75-57

Going out West, Rutgers played like a team coming off a long trip. Harper and Bailey combined to shoot 9-for-27 as the team shot below 50% and just 4-for-19 from deep.

Illinois

2/5: W, 82-73

One of few big wins on the schedule this season. Harper was finally healthy and played like it with 28 points. Bailey dominated with 18 points and 11 rebounds and the Scarlet Knights did what it needed at the end of the game. It all came together for one game against Illinois.

UCLA

1/13: W, 75-68

Rutgers needed to snap a three-game losing streak midseason while there was still a pulse on the postseason. UCLA came to town and Bailey logged another double-double to snap their skid and hand UCLA a fourth consecutive loss.

Total: 2-10