INDIANAPOLIS – Rutgers guard Jacob Young lost possession of the ball at the top of the bracket, causing a mad run for the ball with about seven minutes to play in the first half against Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
Montez Mathis had a clear path for the ball before Kofi Cockburn, Illinois’ 7-foot, 285-pound center, came running to steal it. Cockburn secured the ball and then flattened Mathis, Rutgers’ guard of 6-4 and 210 pounds, like a pancake when an official whistled.
Missing in Rutgers.
An early knockout for Illinois.
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Rutgers was no match for the country’s third team on Friday night in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, dropping 90-68 here at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“We didn’t play well, ” said Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell. “Illinois deserved to win. They looked like team # 1 today. ”
Illinois (21-6) scored a wire-to-wire triumph, leading by double digits in the final 29 minutes en route to avenge a 91-88 setback at the hands of the Scarlet Knights on December 20.
For Rutgers, Ron Harper Jr. scored 21 points – eclipsing the threshold of 1,000 points in his career in the process – and Geo Baker finished with 10 points.
Ayo Dosunmu led all the top scorers with 23 points and Cockburn finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for Illinois.
This was a totally different result from the first Piscataway tour, 82 days ago. In that, Rutgers hit the line 36 times, converting 25 free throws to a 69.4% conversion rate. Illinois converted 11 out of 15 (73.3%), which led coach Brad Underwood to say that no team “will win on the road with a discrepancy of 21 free throws”.
Rutgers was charged with 24 personal fouls, and Illinois converted 21 of 31 free throws. Rutgers tried 22 free throws, with a 72.7% conversion.
“We had tremendous problems,” said Pikiell. “I thought we were back, we reached 12, but we couldn’t get over the hill. ”
Rutgers overcame Illinois, now the fourth best rebound team in the country, by 35 to 34 in December’s victory. On Friday night, Illini held a colossal recovery margin of 44-19.
This marked Rutgers’ most unequal defeat since a 23-point setback in Michigan on January 5.
Illinois won for the 16th time in 19 games since falling to Rutgers.
The Illini advanced to the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament, where they will meet in Iowa or Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon.
Rutgers got off to a slow start for the fifth straight game, falling behind 9-0 after making four turns in the first three minutes.
Rutgers’ first basket came at 3 minutes and 29 seconds of play, courtesy of a Myles Johnson tray. The Scarlet Knights woke up after that, with a 9-2 run, culminating in Jacob Young’s conventional 3-point play, to pull in two points.
But fouls became a problem for Rutgers, who committed his seventh foul to hit the bonus after eight minutes and 30 seconds of play.
Johnson and Cliff Omoruyi each committed two fouls during that period, meaning that Rutgers was without the services of his two best post players for most of the first half.
That was not good news, considering that Rutgers had to defend Cockburn, a likely first-round pick in the NBA, represented a nightmare for Mamadou Doucoure’s third straight pivot.
Illinois took advantage, throwing 54.8% of the field thanks to 26 points in the painting and dominating the boards with a 22-8 advantage in the first half.
Trent Frazier’s jumper gave Illinois his biggest advantage in the first half – 47-28 – at halftime.
Rutgers was never closer than 12 points in the second half.
Rutgers will now await his destination NCAA Tournament, a virtual lock to see his name appear on the key for the first time in 30 years.
Just seven days ago, it was believed that the Scarlet Knights needed to win in Minnesota to guarantee the chance to run for the grand ball. They did just that, sweating an overtime win over the Gophers before cementing their case with a second round victory in the Big Ten Tournament over Indiana.
Most bracketologists have Rutgers marked as an 8, 9 or 10 seed. ESPN.com has Rutgers as a 9 seed, combined with Loyola-Chicago in a region that includes first-rate Baylor.
Rutgers’ curriculum includes a record of 15-11, a 10-10 mark in the Big Ten game that was good enough for a tie in 6th place at the probably most difficult conference in the country and a record of 5-8 against opponents of the Quad 1.
The NCAA tournament starts on Friday, March 19, here in Indianapolis. The Scarlet Knights will not return to Piscataway, instead, they will practice at an Indiana academy in preparation for their first round opponent.
Like the rest of the likely participants in the Big Ten NCAA Tournament, the Scarlet Knights are expected to be under strict COVID-19 social detachment restrictions starting this weekend.
They are likely to attend the Tournament Selection Show together at their team’s hotel.
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