Army Hangs with Rutgers

Myles Mack, with 6 seconds left, stepped out of the Giant Block R at mid-court and launched a 3.

As the ball sailed through the air, the crowd at the RAC--small, but a bit noisy--thought about how the game had gotten there.  Eddie Jordan had-once again-changed his starting line-up, this time going big adding J.J. Moore, Junior Etou, Kadeem Jack, and Wally Judge to a line-up with Mack.  The team struggled find itself early, and the Army Black Knights were able to jump out to an 8 point lead.

But Judge had come to play, scoring 10 points in the first half--four of which on two fabulous alley-oops from Myles Mack.  The Black Knights had no answer for Judge--who was able to nearly score at will, but sat for long stretches in the second half.  Kadeem Jack also spent much of the second half on the bench.

Meanwhile, Rutgers had no answer on defense.  Kyle Wilson continually found himself open and nailed 3 after three, including a clear look that tied the game, before Mack launched that three point shot with time ticking down.  When the threes weren't falling, Army was able to dominate in the paint, and got themselves many uncontested lay-ups.  They also capitalized on rebounding, grabbing 17 offensive and turning them into points.

Rutgers--as they have all year--struggled on defense.  They were unable to stop Army's best player, and when Wilson got hot, they never adjusted to make him work.  Army never went away.

And that's why the game was tied with 6 seconds left.

And Mack's ball sailed through the air, as the crowd held their breath.

And then erupted when he swished it.  Rutgers won.

Watch the shot here.

And then watch Eddie's press conference here.