CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 14 Illinois clinched back-to-back Big Ten wins with an 86-63 victory over Rutgers at State Farm Center on Sunday afternoon.
Five Fighting Illini scorers finished in double figures, while the Orange and Blue used a 31-12 scoring stretch over the final 10 minutes of action to complete the regular-season sweep over the Scarlet Knights.
Justin Harmon led the way with a team-high 18 points, which included 11 points in the second half. Harmon knocked down two 3-pointers, his fifth game this season with multiple treys, and secured his sixth outing in double figures this season. The Illini guard also totaled eight rebounds, one short of his season-high mark, one assist, and one steal.
Quincy Guerrier tallied his seventh double-double of the season with 15 points and 11 rebounds. Guerrier was active on the glass from start to finish, grabbing five offensive boards while notching two emphatic putback dunks.
Terrence Shannon Jr. totaled 16 points, his 22nd consecutive game in double-figures scoring. Shannon registered 12 of his 16 points in the second half while making four of his final five field-goal attempts.
Coleman Hawkins finished in double figures for the ninth time in his last 10 games, amassing 12 points, nine rebounds, four assists, and five steals. Hawkins has now recorded at least five steals in consecutive contests for the first time in his career after tallying six swipes at Michigan earlier in the week.
Marcus Domask ended his afternoon with 12 points, seven rebounds, and a team-high five assists. His two blocks, both of which came in the second half, matched his season-best mark
After Rutgers took a quick lead, the Illini used a 7-0 run to take an 8-2 edge, holding the Scarlet Knights scoreless for nearly three minutes during that stretch. Consecutive transition dunks from Hawkins rounded out the scoring streak, which forced the visitors to use an early timeout.
Recording five of its first 12 points on second-chance opportunities, Illinois added onto its advantage via an 8-0 run, which was book-ended by Guerrier buckets. The scoring stretch pushed the hosts' lead to 22-9 with just under nine minutes to play in the opening half.
The Scarlet Knights battled back to cut their deficit to eight points, but the Illini pushed their advantage back into double digits with a 4-0 run. Illinois led by as many as 14 points in the opening half, which included an 8-2 run near the end of the period, to take a 40-28 lead into the break.
All eight Illini who played in the first half recorded at least two points, though Guerrier led the scoring charge with nine points. Shooting 11-for-16 on 2-point field-goal attempts, Illinois took advantage of their presence on the glass with seven second-chance points on five offensive boards.
Rutgers cut its deficit to eight after scoring the first four points out of the break, but a 7-0 Illini run pushed the lead up to 15 points less than four minutes in the second half. A Guerrier 3-pointer five minutes later ended an 11-1 run for the Scarlet Knights, and helped the Illini forward secure his team-leading seventh double-double of the season.
With Illinois' advantage down to four points, the Orange and Blue used back-to-back Shannon layups to take a 60-51 lead with nine minutes left. The bucket helped start a 14-3 run for the the Orange and Blue, that pushed Illinois' lead back to 15 points.
The Illini continued to add to their advantage, capitalizing on an 8-0 run over the span of 70 seconds to take their largest lead of the afternoon, 77-56, with 4:39 to play. Shannon accounted for the final five points of that scoring stretch, which brought him into double figures.
Holding the Scarlet Knights to only one field goal in the final four minutes of action, the Illini closed out the game by scoring the final four points to seal the home win.
Illinois (14-4, 5-2 B1G) heads north for an in-state clash with Northwestern on Wednesday night for its next conference contest. Tipoff from Welsh-Ryan Arena in Evanston is slated for 8 p.m. CT on Big Ten Network.
HIGHLIGHTS
PRESS CONFERENCE
POSTGAME NOTES
PLAYER NOTES
- Justin Harmon scored a team-high 18 points and grabbed eight rebounds.
- Went 2-for-5 from beyond the arc.
- Fourth time in the last seven games with multiple 3-pointers.
- Has reached double-figures scoring in consecutive games.
- Second time this season he has reached double-digits in back-to-back games.
- His eight boards are the most since recording nine on Nov. 17 vs. Valparaiso.
- Quincy Guerrier scored 15 points and secured 11 rebounds.
- Has recorded a double-double in consecutive games.
- His seventh double-double of the season.
- Has scored in double figures in back-to-back games and in nine of his last 10 overall.
- Knocked down multiple 3-pointers for the fourth time this season.
- Has double-digit rebounds in five of his last seven games.
- Coleman Hawkins scored 12 points and had nine rebounds, four assists and five steals.
- Has scored in double-digits in back-to-back contests and in nine of his last 10 overall.
- Has grabbed at least seven rebounds in four-straight games.
- Has consecutive games with at least five steals.
- Is the first Illini player since at least 2010-11 to record 5+ steals in back-to-back games
- Is the first Illini with two 5-steal games in a single season, overall, since Trent Frazier in 2018-19.
- Has recorded at least one steal in 12-straight games.
- Has multiple steals in eight contests during that stretch.
- Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 16 points and dished out four assists.
- Has scored in double figures in all 12 games this season.
- Has reached double-figures scoring in 22 straight contests dating back to Jan. 31, 2023.
- Went 8-for-10 from the free throw line.
- Has at least eight makes from the line in four of his last five.
- Has four assists in back-to-back games.
- Marcus Domask scored 12 points and added seven rebounds and five assists.
- Has scored in double figures in nine-straight games.
- Has at least five assists in three of his last five games.
- Has also done so five times in his last eight.
TEAM NOTES
- Today's attendance was 15,544, the fifth sellout crowd of the season.
- Illinois improves to 8-0 all-time against Rutgers at State Farm Center and have now won three straight over the Scarlet Knights overall.
- The Illiini have outscored the Scarlet Knights by an average of 16.6 points per game in their eight wins at State Farm Center.
- The Illini are now 60-27 (.690) in Big Ten play over the last four-plus seasons, the winningest team in league play during that span.
- Illinois had five players score in double figures for the second-straight contest and for the third time in the last four games.
- The Illini have had at least four players reach that mark scoring in eight of the last nine.
- The Illini out-rebounded the Scarlet Knights 46-32, including a 13-10 advantage on the offensive glass.
- Ilinois scored 16 second-chance points and allowed just five such points defensively.
- The Illini have won the rebounding battle in back-to-back games and in 14 of 18 overall.
- Illinois posted an overall rebounding margin of +42 in two games against the Scarlet Knights this season.
- Illinois forced a season-high 14 turnovers, scoring 20 points off of those turnovers.
- The Illini held a 50-32 advantage in the paint.
- Second time this season reaching the 50-point mark, first time during Big Ten play.
- Illinois scored a season-high 20 points in transition, allowing just eight such points defensively.
- The 12-point margin in that category is a season-best mark.
- The Illini assisted 17 times on 32 field goals.
- Matches their highest assist total in Big Ten play this season.
- Illinois made at least six 3-pointers for the 13th-straight game.
- The Illini made 16 free throws in the contest, their 11th-straight game with at least 16 makes from the line.
QUOTES
On the team's offense when not making a high percentage of 3-pointers:
"Well, we had 17 assists. I think that anybody who's a fan of basketball has to enjoy our ball movement. I do. I thought we passed it a little too much sometimes today and made the extra pass, but we're sharing the basketball. We have different guys out there who can shoot it and different guys out there who can drive it. One thing we can't control is whether that thing goes in, but what we can control is if we go get a second shot and another opportunity."
On the defensive abilities of Hawkins, who has 11 total steals in his last two games:
"He's unique. There are only a few players in the country who have that ability to get their hands on a ball, and then he usually comes up with it. He's got a great knack for it. He's got great timing and anticipation, but that's a unique gift."
On his dominance on the glass on both ends of the floor:
"It's just about effort. I think we're the best rebounding team in the country, and we have to keep doing it. It's really just about effort, going to the glass, and being physical. When we do that, we're really hard to stop."
On his second-chance points, which included two dunks:
"I think a big part of it is the crowd. Our crowd is amazing. The fans are hyping me up every time and hyping our team up. I'm gonna keep doing what I'm doing: crashing the boards, playing defense, being physical, and leading the guys."
On his individual maturity and the team's cohesion:
"I feel like we don't really care who scores. Everybody has the same goal: We want to win. We want to get to the tournament, get to the national championship, and win the Big Ten. Everybody is contributing every day."
On his mentality before checking in off the bench:
"I like to observe the game before I get in because I know that Coach is coming to me first. I look at both sides of the ball: on defense, where they're scoring, and on offense, what their defense is doing. It's a big thing for me being older; I just observe stuff way better now."
