Kid Stuff: Huskies Lose in OT to Rutgers and Its Freshman Phenoms

The UW couldn't handle first-year guard Dylan Harper, who scored a game-high 34 points.

Zoom Diallo might feel that he's being watched. / Skylar Lin Visuals

Wednesday night's game between the University of Washington basketball team and Rutgers came down to child care.

The Huskies tried to put the youngsters from New Jersey down for the evening. Maybe read them a bedtime story. The kids were too much of a handful.

The UW fell victim to the precocious efforts of the Scarlet Knights' sensational freshmen Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper -- who combined for 51 points,14 more than their collective season average -- and dropped an 89-85 overtime decision at Alaska Airlines Arena before a near capacity crowd.

Harper, a 6-foot-6 guard, got loose for a game- high 34 points while Bailey, his 6-foot-10 running mate, finished with 18, sinking three free throws inside the final 67 seconds to keep the home team at a safely ahead.

"They're lottery picks for a reason," UW guard Mekhi Mason said.

This one had the potential for big-boy results, too, with the Huskies (13-13, 4-11) trying to make themselves Big Ten Tournament eligible for the first time with just five games left on the conference schedule, but it didn't happen.

Danny Sprinkle's team remained in 16th place in the standings, tied with Northwestern, and one below the cutoff for the Big Ten entries who advance to the postseason in Indianapolis , unable to switch places with Rutgers (13-14, 6-10), now 14th.

"We were just a play short," the Husky coach said.

This spirited game had eight lead changes over the final four minutes, before Rutgers scored the first two points of the extra session on a pair of Harper free throws to snap a tie at 81 and never looked back.

Harper hit 9 or 18 shots from the floor, including 4 of 8 from behind the line, and connected on 12 of 14 free throws.

"That kid was the best player on the floor," Sprinkle said.

The Huskies were hurt when Great Osobor fouled out with 10.7 seconds left in regulation play, as did Mason in the overtime.

Freshman guard Zoom Diallo and Mason topped the UW in scoring with 20. points each, while Osobor and sophomore forward Tyler Harris each chipped 17.

No more than six points separated these team throughout the 45 minutes of action, which had 17 total lead changes and 10 ties.

The UW went up by 21-15 with 11:43 left left for their largest lead before intermission, with Harris driving to the basket and dropping in a scoop shot.

However, Rutgers finally got Harper untracked and scored 10 of his 15 first-half points over the final seven minutes put his team ahead 42-29 at the break.

Early in the second half, the Scarlett Knights eased out to their largest lead at 49-44 and again at 51-46, but Mason and Harris hit consecutive 3-pointers to reclaim the upper hand at 55-52.

Back and forth it went to the end of regulation buzzer, with Harper doing everything except hitting a game-winning shot to avoid overtime. With Tyree Ihenacho on him, the lefty put up an airball from behind the line and it was off to the extra session.

The Huskies hung close, with Diallo scoring on a lay-in to pull his team within 87-85 with 15.7 seconds remaining. With four seconds to go and Rutgers ahead 88-85, the man named Zoom put up a 3-pointer that fell way short and it was over.

"It was a brutal loss," Sprinkle said, "a game we needed."

The Huskies will next play at Iowa (14-12, 5-10) on Saturday afternoon in Iowa City, against the 15th team in the standings, with a chance to still make the tournament.

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