Feb. 17, 2015

Box Score (HTML) | Box Score (PDF) | Bollant Interview

Piscataway, N.J. - The Fighting Illini led early and went into the locker room with a single-digit deficit, but the hot-handed Scarlet Knights pulled away in the second half, as No. 19/18 Rutgers defeated Illinois, 80-56, in the pair's first-ever meeting. The win lifts Rutgers to 20-6 (11-4 Big Ten), while the Orange and Blue slip to 13-14 (4-11 Big Ten).

"I thought we fought back late in the first half, cut it to eight, and thought hopefully we would give ourselves a chance in the second half, but we didn't string together enough stats," said head coach Matt Bollant. "Give Rutgers credit. They made everything tonight. They were really good offensively, made a lot of jump shots tonight. The goal was to make them take jump shots and they made them all. So, give them credit. We weren't quite as proactive and didn't move as well defensively as we did against Ohio State."

Senior guard Ivory Crawford became the seventh Illini in program history to sink 100 career three-pointers early in the first half, and finished the game with a team-leading 15 points, shooting 7-for-11 from the field with six assists. Kyley Simmons followed with 12 points, nine of which came in the second half, and Brittany Carter put up 11 points and six rebounds. Chatrice White was the fourth Illini in double digits, tallying 10 points and four boards.

Rutgers matched the best shooting percentage for an Illini opponent this season, hitting 55.2 percent of its shots, including a blistering 16-of-26 (61.5%) in the first half. The Illini out-shot the Scarlet Knights from the arc, leading 9-3 from three-point range, but trailed 13-5 in free throws.

RU sophomore Tyler Scaife led the game with 21 points on 9-of-16 shooting, and three additional Scarlet Knights scored in double digits.

The Illini won the opening tip and Carter fed Crawford for a quick two points. Illinois used that momentum to control the pace of the game early, leading 11-9 at the first media timeout. However, the Scarlet Knights replied with an 8-0 run to pull ahead 17-11, and extended it to 32-19 with 6:12 to play in the half. The Illini bounced back to score seven straight and pull within six, 32-26, and Rutgers headed into the break holding a narrow 36-28 advantage.

Rutgers came out hot to start the second half, going on a 13-4 run to pull up 49-32. White scored on back-to-back possessions to make it 49-36, but the Scarlet Knights held the Illini to just one field goal, a Simmons three, over the next 7:22, forcing seven Illini turnovers, to forge ahead 64-39 and solidify their 11th Big Ten victory with a final score of 80-56.

Illinois plays its final road game of the regular season on Saturday, Feb. 21, with a trip to Purdue (10-16, 3-12 Big Ten) at 1 p.m. CT.