Clifford Omoruyi pulls down a rebound in between two Illinois defenders throughout Rutgers' 70-59 victory.
Invoice Kostroun
This was speculated to be the troublesome portion of Rutgers’ schedule, the stretch that will problem the Scarlet Knights and presumably finish their NCAA Event hopes.
As an alternative, it has been a breeze. The Scarlet Knights maintain dealing with ranked opponents and overwhelming them. The most recent sufferer was Massive Ten co-leader Illinois and All-American massive man Kofi Cockburn.
Rutgers regarded just like the group assured of a excessive NCAA Event seed, dominating on each ends and blistering the No. 12 Illini, 70-59, at Jersey Mike’s Enviornment to proceed a surprising run with its program-record fourth straight win over a top-25 foe.
“It was pretty much as good an evening as you may have,” coach Steve Pikiell stated. “We performed laborious and we performed effectively. … We had nice efforts from everybody.”
Rutgers has gained 4 straight video games — over No. 19 Michigan State, No. 18 Ohio State, No. 15 Wisconsin and now Illinois — and 7 of 9. Regardless of a lot of dangerous losses, together with setbacks to Lafayette, Northwestern and Massachusetts, the Scarlet Knights (16-9, 10-5) are very a lot within the NCAA Event image.
They actually cross the attention take a look at in the intervening time, after choosing up their seventh Quad 1 victory. To point out how far the Scarlet Knights have come, they fell to Illinois by 35 factors within the first assembly. Within the following sport, they upset then-No. 1 Purdue on the buzzer, a win that started to flip this season.
Skilled stars Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker have been joined by bettering teammates Caleb McConnell, Cliff Omoruyi and Paul Mulcahy to type a standout beginning lineup that's aiming to steer Rutgers to back-to-back NCAA Event berths for the primary time since 1975-76.
Baker wasn’t a serious actor towards Illinois (18-7, 11-4), scoring simply seven factors, nevertheless it didn’t matter. Omoruyi was a monster within the paint, notching 15 factors, 13 rebounds and two blocks. Mulcahy was once more distinctive as a playmaking ahead, with 13 factors and 7 assists. Harper, who suffered a hand harm late within the win, completed with a team-high 16 factors and McConnell had 11 factors, seven rebounds and 4 steals.
“Cliff was superior tonight, Paul simply continues to run our group — Caleb, what did he have? It felt like he had 100 steals, he simply takes on that function of being an incredible defender,” Pikiell stated. “I advised you guys I like this group [in the preseason], and also you’re beginning to see that.”
However this sport was about pressure, and the way dominant Rutgers was on the defensive finish. The Scarlet Knights restricted the Illini to 26 % capturing from 3-point vary, outrebounded them 46-38 and held the sting in factors within the paint (40-32), fastbreak factors (14-2) and second-chance factors (16-9). Rutgers led by 23 at one level and by no means actually needed to sweat it out down the stretch.
“That’s a group that’s able to making run,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood stated. “They’re taking part in more durable than 90 % of the competitors I’ve seen on movie.
“We didn’t match the struggle till the final 5 minutes of the sport, and I suppose that’s on me.”
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