Rutgers basketball fell to Alabama in a close 95-90 battle in the Players Era Festival at MGM Grand Garden. Rutgers guard Dylan Harper rose to the occasion against the Crimson Tide, despite the loss.

Harper led the way with 37 points on 11-of-19 shooting, despite not recording a three in the game. On Tuesday against Notre Dame, he posted 36 points, hitting two of his six shots from behind the arc.

He is the first Division I freshman in the last 20 seasons to score 35 points in back-to-back games, per Jeff Goodman on X, formerly Twitter.

Rutgers now sits at 5-2 with a loss to Kennesaw State already under their belt. Harper is averaging 24.6 points on 55 percent shooting, with 4.9 assists and 4.7 rebounds.

Rutgers basketball will be a contender this season

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The Scarlet Knights’ record to begin the year is a tad deceiving. They’ve had a challenging three-game stretch in the last four days, so they will have something build on when they face No. 20 Texas A&M and Ohio State in their upcoming matchups.

It was a positive night for Ace Bailey, who also put worth a statement effort in the loss to Alabama on Wednesday. The star freshman forward entered the game with the mindset of putting his scoring struggles against Kennesaw State and Notre Dame behind him.

He posted 22 points on 9-of-18 shooting, and hit one of Rutgers’ two threes in the loss. Rutgers' inability to rebound and make deep shots became their undoing against the Crimson Tide. They were dominated 43 to 31 on the glass, and shot an abysmal 15.4 three-point percentage. Junior center Emmanuel Ogbole supplied most of the gritty work in the paint, leading Rutgers with eight rebounds.

Harper and Bailey are the best freshman tandem in the country, and they will look to get the Scarlet Knights back on a winning path against Texas A&M on November 30.