Ailing Dylan Harper drops 3-word reaction for Rutgers’ teammate Ace Bailey’s explosive display vs Northwestern 

NCAA Basketball: Rutgers at Northwestern - Source: Imagn
Ace Bailey for Rutgers (Image via Imagn)

Injured Rutgers star Dylan Harper took to Instagram to share his thoughts on teammate Ace Bailey's explosive game against Northwestern on Wednesday. Sharing a post by Bleacher Report Hoops on Bailey's 37 point-game, Harper wrote a message for his fellow freshman over it.

"Trust yo eyesssss," Harper wrote.

The post comes off the back of Bailey leading the Scarlet Knights to a win over the Wildcats as he dropped 37 points.

Check out the story below:

Ace Bailey dominates Northwestern

With Harper out due to an ankle injury, all eyes were on Bailey to step up for Rutgers against Northwestern on Wednesday night. And he delivered in a big way. The freshman phenom exploded for 37 points on 13-of-20 shooting, grabbed six rebounds and swatted away three shots as he led the Scarlet Knights to a hard-fought 79-72 victory.

Under the circumstances, this may have been Rutgers’ most impressive win of the season.

Bailey’s performance was similar to his career-best 39-point outing at Indiana on Jan. 2 — the highest-scoring game by any player in Big Ten play this season. But this time, Rutgers walked away with the win. His ability to take over games when it matters most was on full display, reminding everyone that when he’s locked in, there’s little an opposing defense can do to stop him.

Rutgers, now 11-10 overall and 4-6 in Big Ten play, added another road win and a second Quad 1 victory to its resume. With momentum on their side, the Scarlet Knights return home for two major matchups against Michigan (15-5, 7-2) on Saturday and No. 18 Illinois (14-6, 6-4) on Feb. 5.

Bailey currently leads the Big Ten in conference play scoring, averaging 22.1 points per game. His bounce-back performance against Northwestern was a complete turnaround from his rough shooting night against Michigan State, where he went 4-for-17. After the game, Bailey kept it simple when asked how he did it.

"They gave me the ball when it was time to give me the ball," he said via MSN.com. "And I went to work."

Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell had nothing but praise for his star player, calling him “just special” in his postgame interview.

To put Bailey’s dominance into perspective, he is now the first Division I freshman since Trae Young in 2017-18 to record multiple 35-point road games. With performances like this, it’s clear that Ace Bailey is not just one of the best freshmen in the country — he’s one of the best players in college basketball right now.

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Edited by Veer Badani
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