Rutgers men's basketball faces tough task against Illinois
The Rutgers men’s basketball team will travel to Urbana-Champaign, Illinois, to take on Illinois this Saturday. The Scarlet Knights (16-8, 8-5) are looking to get their first win ever at the State Farm Center.
Last season, Rutgers split the season series against the Fighting Illini (16-7, 7-5). In the first game, the Knights were blown out by Illinois in the State Farm Center by a score of 86-51. In the second game though, Rutgers successfully defended its home court and got a convincing 70-59 victory.
Junior center Clifford Omoruyi will be a key focal point on offense for the Knights. In the team's win last year, Omoruyi had a dominating game, scoring 15 points and corralling in 13 rebounds. He will need a similar performance if Rutgers wants to win this game.
The Knights are also going to need senior guard Paul Mulcahy and fifth-year senior guard Caleb McConnell to step up on the offensive side of the ball. Against Indiana, both players struggled to score. Mulcahy only took four shots against the Hoosiers and made one of them.
Rutgers has succeeded when Mulcahy plays aggressively, taking corner three-point shots and taking shots in the low post and he will need to keep doing more of that for the team's overall success.
Against Indiana, McConnell shot 1-12 from the field and 0-4 from the three-point line. This season, McConnell is shooting 39.7 percent from the field and only 20 percent from beyond the arc. He will need to hit his mid-range shots if the Knights are going to come out of Urbana-Champaign with a road victory.
The Fighting Illini is a very versatile team that poses unique challenges for Rutgers. Coleman Hawkins is a forward that can play any position on the court. Without junior forward Mawot Mag, who is out for the season with an ACL injury, Hawkins can cause matchup problems for Rutgers.
Matthew Mayer is a forward that can stretch the floor for Illinois. He shoots 38.1 percent from three-point range and shoots well from the corners. The Knights just gave up 18 points to a player with a similar skill set in the Hoosiers’ Miller Kopp. For Rutgers to win, it is going to have to close out fast when Mayer has the ball in the perimeter and deny him three-point looks off of screens.
McConnell will most likely be matched up against Terrence Shannon Jr. He is the Fighting Illini’s leading scorer, scoring 17 points per game. Shannon Jr. also averages 5.1 rebounds per game and 3 assists per game.
One weakness for Illinois is that it does not have a true point guard after Skyy Clark declared himself out for the season due to personal reasons. Because of this, the Knights may choose to press to try and generate turnovers.
For the Knights, the number to watch out for is 65. In Big Ten play, when Rutgers has allowed more than 65 points scored, it is 0-5. When the Knights allow their opponents to score under 65 in Big Ten play, they are 8-0.
This game is another crucial one in the Big Ten standings. The Fighting Illini are a half-game behind Rutgers for second place in the Big Ten. With a win, Illinois would overtake the Knights for second place.
The game will tip off on Saturday at 2 p.m. and will be broadcasted on Fox Sports 1 and 88.7 WRSU-FM.
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