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Alfonso Plummer scored over 20 points for the fourth consecutive night as the Fighting Illini opened up Big Ten play with a 86-51 win over Rutgers. Plummer was a force all around the court on Friday night, creating his own shots in the lane, sinking threes and making every free throw attempt.
"It's nice to be 1-0. Really pleased with our veteran leadership," head coach Brad Underwood said. "It's different, really different, Big Ten Play. It's got a different attitude in the locker room, it's got a different attitude in practice, a different intensity. I thought our veterans, Kofi, Da'Monte, Trent, Jake, those guys were incredible this week in practice leading up to this and what the right intensity level is and what this is about in Big Ten play. Now we've got 19 more."
Along with Plummer's 24 points, Jacob Grandison had another big night with 16 points on 7-11 shooting from the field while Kofi Cockburn added 13 points.
The Illini defense stepped up against the Scarlet Knights, holding them to 30.9% shooting from the field. Coleman Hawkins was tasked with guarding Rutgers' Ron Harper Jr. and locked him down, allowing just five points on 1-9 shooting. Only one Rutgers player hit double digits scoring as Jaden Jones had 10 points.
"When I envision Coleman, tonight's kind of it. I think he's an elite defender," Underwood said. "He took on the challenge of one of the best player's in this league and a guy who has really given us problems in the past in Ron Harper Jr. Made it a very, very difficult night for him. And I thought that set the tone. I thought our other guys flew around, we competed. We didn't give them anything easy outside a couple transition baskets and then we gave them two threes off offensive rebounds which we can't do."
Illinois' offense was electric in the first half as Plummer and Grandison led the way with 13 and 12 points, respectively.
A jumper from Plummer started things off before the teams traded baskets through the first few minutes. Through six minutes, Rutgers was 3-11 from the field, but the Illini led by just one point after multiple early turnovers.
After not scoring for three minutes, the Illini found their rhythm with a few shots from Plummer and a three-pointer from Luke Goode. Illinois went on a 10-0 run as Rutgers went through a five-minute scoring drought.
Then about halfway through the first half, the Illini started to roll. Hawkins blocked Harper Jr., which led to Kofi Cockburn's first points of the night.
Illinois started to get aggressive on the offensive boards as Cockburn and Grandison each made put backs. While Rutgers' guards came back with a couple jumpers, Frazier found Grandison for three baskets in a matter of minutes to put the Illini up 34-18.
Rutgers hit a couple threes down the stretch, including one from Harper Jr., which was his first field goal make of the game. Cockburn and Plummer each made a few free throws to close out the half, leading 43-23.
Hawkins and the Illini D held Harper Jr. to just five first-half points on 1-6 shooting while Rutgers shot just 29% from the field.
The second half began with each team hitting quick shots, including a tip in from Hawkins and another Plummer 3. While Rutgers hit a couple deep balls early, Da'Monte Williams and Frazier countered with their own threes. Then the Illini started to break free again.
Grandison drove to the rim for a layup then Cockburn found Plummer for a breakaway layup. Rutgers hit another three-pointer, but Frazier returned the favor.
The Scarlet Knights went the next five minutes without a point. Plummer stayed hot and took one to the hole to draw the and-1, making his fifth free throw of the night. Hawkins started to heat up, making a layup and a dunk before getting a steal on the opposite end.
"Plummer was a point guard at one point in his career... and so he has that," Underwood said, "It's kind of weighing the scales, do you want the ball in his hand all the time or do you want him coming off screens which he's elite at? He's grown with that. You saw us tonight run a couple actions with him on the ball. He's very good at getting downhill. We do a drill everyday where we have our bigs jump straight in the air and not foul. And Plummer goes at them and finishes at a really alarmingly high rate. So we're really comfortable with him around the rim, he gets the ball off."
Rutgers hit a few more three-pointers, but Illinois already had the game sealed up. With under four minutes to go, Underwood emptied the bench.
Illinois will head into another Big Ten battle on Monday when it travels to Iowa for a 6 p.m. CT tip.
POSTGAME NOTES
- Illinois improves to 6-2 (1-0 B1G) on the season following the victory over Rutgers.
- Illinois owns a ten-game winning streak at the State Farm Center.
- Illinois defeated Rutgers by 35 points, the largest margin of victory over a B1G team since Feb. 23, 2005 when the Illini defeated Northwestern by 36 (484-48).
- Illinois tied a season-high in three-pointers with 12 while taking a season-high 33 attempts from behind the arc.
- Illinois recorded a season-high percentage from the charity line, going 10-for-11 for a .909 make percentage.
- Illinois recorded a season-high in defensive rebounds with 34.
- Illinois committed a season-low in fouls with ten.
- Illinois turned the ball over a season-low ten times.
- Illinois blocked a season-high six shots on the evening.
- Alfonso Plummer recorded 24 points on the evening and has scored 20+ points in four consecutive games, the longest streak of his career.
- Jacob Grandison recorded 16 points, his most in a Big Ten game at Illinois.
- Kofi Cockburn recorded his 31st career double-double with 13 points and a season-high 15 rebounds.
- Cockburn is currently in 7th place in Illinois history for total double-doubles, just 11 away from breaking the Illinois all-time record of 41 set by Skip Thoren from 1963-65.
- Cockburn has seven assists on the year thus far after totaling five in 31 games last season after tying his career-high in assists with two vs. Rutgers.
- Omar Payne grabbed a season-high seven rebounds.
