Ace Bailey, Dylan Harper Bounce Back in UCLA Win

As five-stars signing on to play their lone collegiate season together, the Rutgers duo of Dylan Harper and Ace Bailey have taken the draft world by storm. And on Monday, they bounced back from lower performances in a big win over UCLA.

Against Wisconsin on Monday, Jan. 6, the two saw some of their lowest outputs of the season. Harper, fresh off or even amidst an illness, failed to score on two shots in 15 minutes. And Bailey scored nine points on a less-than-adequate 16 shots.

Against No. 20 Purdue on Thursday, Harper saw another low scoring affair, adding six points on nine shots in clearly still working back into game shape. Bailey saw a better 17 points, but still couldn’t find the efficiency, doing so while shooting 33% overall in the game.

Tonight, both Harper and Bailey re-found their rhythm, in addition to stopping the Scarlet Knight’s three-game skid.

Bailey was the star of the night, pushing Rutgers to a 7-point win over the Bruins with 20 points on 7-for-13 shooting, 10 rebounds, two assists, one steal and three blocks. It was one of his better games on the year, with him showing versatility in scoring, facilitating and even defending.

Harper returned to his productive ways, too, adding 18 points — albeit on a less efficient night than he’s used to — with four assists, four rebounds and one steal and block apiece.

The game was a breath of fresh air for both prospects, who desperately needed to find some conference momentum coming off down games. Both remain top five, and more specifically top three, prospects in the upcoming 2025 NBA Draft.