Can Rutgers Keep Momentum Going Against Illinois?
Rutgers Men’s Basketball looks to once again make its case for some serious NCAA tournament action come this March when they host 12th ranked Illinois at Jersey Mike’s Arena, tonight at 7 p.m. And who could blame Scarlet Knights’ fans (15-9, 9-5) for believing that anything is possible this season. They have watched the men’s basketball team rattle off three straight victories against ranked opponents, including a victory against their highest ranked road opponent, Wisconsin over the weekend.
Should Rutgers take down the Fighting Illini, it will be a fourth straight win, and fifth this season against ranked opponents from the Big Ten conference. It will also put Rutgers right in the conversation with a 16th victory on the year.
Taking down the Illini will be no easy task. The two clubs met already this year, with Illinois coming out victorious in Champaign, 86-51 on December 3. That was a much different Rutgers team back then. For starters, Geo Baker, this week’s Co-Player of the Week in the Big Ten was out with an injury. Ron Harper Jr. played only 26 minutes, and had a rare rough night, going 1-for-9 with five points. Paul Mulchay, Caleb McConnell and Clifford Omoruyi hadn’t really taken off yet.
Over their last five games (4-1) Rutgers is shooting at a 49 percent clip from the field, which is way better than their season average of .438. In additon Rutgers is proving to be deadly accurate of late when it comes to connecting at the free throw line (74-of-93 or 80%) at the charity stripe the past five games. A lot of that has to do with the consistently good play by Harper and Baker, but also the inspired play on both sides of the floor by Mulchay, who was named Met-Player of the Week two weeks ago, Omoruyi and McConnell. Those three have consistently found themselves in double figures during this hot stretch.
With six games left in the season, three of them are against ranked opponents: Tonight vs. Illinois; February 20 at Purdue, and February 26 vs. Wisconsin. There are also games against Michigan, Indiana and Penn State as well. If the Scarlet Knights can keep their solid play going over the next two weeks, they can begin to position themselves for a say in March Madness. of course it could come down to how well, and how far they go in the Big 10 tournament at the start of next month.
Catch the action live tonight on Fox Sports New Jersey, 93.5 FM and 1450 AM at 6:45 p.m.
