Rutgers Basketball Dominated by No.16 Illinois 81-55

After pulling off their first Big Ten win of the season against Oregon, Rutgers was dominated by No.16 Illinois 81-55. Despite playing better in recent games, the Scarlet Knights couldn’t get anything going against the Illini

Rutgers would win the tip to start the game, as Harun Zrno would open the scoring with a three-point shot. Both teams would have struggled to get their offense going early, relying on free throws to generate a significant number of their points, as Illinois would take an 11-6 lead after five minutes of play. The Illini offense would get hot over the next few minutes, draining several threes and pushing their lead to 12 with 10 minutes left to play in the half. From then on, the route was on, as Illinois would pile up points to go into the lockerroom up 43-16. Rutgers would miss their last 11 shots going into the half.

Zrno would hit a three-pointer to open up the scoring in the second half, but the Knights were unable to draw any closer over the next five minutes. Rutgers would cut Illinois’ lead to 23 with 10 minutes to go, but it was too little too late, as the Illini would hold on for the next 10 minutes to win convincingly.

Rutgers had very few positives to take away from this game. They were beaten in almost every single statistical category by the Illini. A few that were particularly bad include points in the paint, rebounds, free-throw shooting percentage, and three-point shooting percentage. Free throws helped Rutgers engineer a lot of their offense in their win over Oregon, but that did not continue here, as the Knights only hit 38 percent of their shots from the line.

After playing hero in the Oregon game, Tariq Francis went 3-10 on the field goals and 0-1 from three against the Illini. Zrno and Kaden Powers were the only two Knights to score double-digit points in this matchup.

If there are a few positives to take away from this game, it is that Rutgers tied Illinois in turnovers generated at seven, and that they tied the Illini in total blocks at five.

Rutgers men’s basketball will be back in action at home against Northwestern on Sunday, January 11th, at 5 pm. Live coverage for that game will be available on Peacock.