Rutgers Does It Again, Knocks Off 12th Ranked Illinois
RUTGERS 70 – ILLINOIS 59
Rutgers Men’s Basketball was at it again Wednesday night. In front of jam packed crowed at Jersey Mike’s Arena, the Scarlet Knights slayed another ranked Big Ten opponent, this time 12th ranked Illinois for its fourth consecutive victory over a ranked opponent. All four victories have come in conference as Rutgers improved to 16-9 on the season and 10-5 in the Big Ten.
As they have throughout this recent string of success, the Scarlet Knights won on the combination of timely shooting and suffocating defensive play on the boards to beat back the Illini. The victory was also historic as Rutgers became the first unranked school in college basketball history to defeat four straight ranked opponents in the regular season.
The victory also gave Rutgers its fifth win against a ranked opponent in conference this season, as they continue to make the case that Rutgers belongs in the Big Dance come March. It was also the 13th ranked victory for Rutgers under Head Coach Steve Pikiell.
.@wizcliff77 👅👅👅👅👅👅👅 https://t.co/V7SeijLyOt
— Rutgers Men’s Basketball 🏀 (@RutgersMBB) February 17, 2022
💰 in the bank with a shrug 👀
— Rutgers On BTN (@RutgersOnBTN) February 17, 2022
His pops played with MJ, so @__RHJR hit the Jordan Shrug for @RutgersMBB: pic.twitter.com/xsC1aXbkFd
“These guys take a lot of pride and have all gotten better,” Pikiell said. “All these guys on the stage. Cliff (Omoruyi) was awesome tonight, Paul (Mulcahy) just continues to run our team. Caleb (McConnell), I don’t know, what do you have? It seemed like you had 100 steals. He just continues to take on that role of being a great defender. I think they’re all defending and playing hard and that’s what we need to do. It’s a blue collar group and they play that way but they practice well every day. I told you guys I like this team and I think you’re starting to see that they get along great. They share the game the right way.”
Four players were in double-figures once again for Rutgers as the ball spread around the floor. Ron Harper led the way with 16 points on 6-of-13 shooting. Clifford Omoruyi had a double-double with 15 points and 13 rebounds; Paul Mulcahy had 13 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while Caleb McConnell contributed 11 points. Geo Baker was held to seven points on the night.
Rutgers shot 48 percent from the floor, all while holding Illinois to 38 percent from the floor and 26 percent from downtown.
Can Rutgers make it five straight? They will have a tough task on Sunday evening when Rutgers visits fifth ranked Purdue, whom the Scarlet Knights beat earlier this year when the Boilermakers were ranked first in the Nation.
Rutgers incredible run even caught the attention of Jersey native, and Hall of Fame broadcaster Dick Vitale:
TEAM OF THE NIGHT @RutgersMBB with its 4 th straight win over a top 25 team as they add @IlliniMBB to MSU - OHIO STATE - WISCONSIN Congrats to the Scarlet Knights & @CoachPikiell
— Dick Vitale (@DickieV) February 17, 2022
