Who’s Playing
Rutgers Scarlet Knights @ Illinois Fighting Illini
Current Records: Rutgers 10-7, Illinois 13-4
How To Watch
What to Know
We’ve got another exciting Big Ten matchup on schedule as the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights are set to tip at 1:00 p.m. ET on January 21st at State Farm Center. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
On Thursday, the Fighting Illini didn’t have too much trouble with the Wolverines on the road as they won 88-73.
Illinois can attribute much of their success to Coleman Hawkins, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten rebounds. Hawkins set a new season high mark in steals with six. Another player making a difference was Quincy Guerrier, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Rutgers scored the most points they’ve had all season to find success on Wednesday. They came out on top against the Cornhuskers by a score of 87-82. The win came about thanks to a strong surge starting at the 8:53 mark of the first half, when Rutgers was facing a 27-15 deficit.
Rutgers got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Derek Simpson out in front who scored 14 points along with eight assists and eight rebounds. Those eight assists set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Clifford Omoruyi, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 15 rebounds.
The Fighting Illini’s victory bumped their record up to 13-4. As for the Scarlet Knights, they pushed their record up to 10-7 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home.
Sunday’s game is shaping up to be a blowout: Illinois just can’t miss this season, having made 46.8% of their shots per game. It’s a different story for Rutgers, though, as they’ve only made 39.1% of their shots per game this season. Given Illinois’ sizeable…
..
