The team fought valiantly without their best player for most of the game, but ultimately didn’t have enough firepower to hang with Dylan Harper and the Scarlet Knights

Dylan Harper dropped a career-high 36 points and Rutgers fended off Matt Allocco and Notre Dame 85-84 in overtime to conclude a wild first day of the Players Era Festival on Tuesday night in Las Vegas.

Harper shot 12-of-22 from the field and did most of his damage going to the rim, which is exactly what Rutgers needs from him and very difficult for most defenses to stop. Notre Dame nearly stole it at the end of overtime thanks former Princeton star Matt Allocco,

In a game that featured 12 ties and 17 lead changes, Irish power forward Paul Atkinson’s rebound basket with 1.2 seconds left gave Notre Dame an 89-87 victory and sent the Irish on to face Alabama in the first round in San Diego. Atkinson scored a game-high 26 points with six rebounds.

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