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This was supposed to be the difficult portion of Rutgers’ schedule, the stretch that would challenge the Scarlet Knights and possibly end their NCAA Tournament hopes.
Instead, it has been a breeze. The Scarlet Knights keep facing ranked opponents and overwhelming them. The latest victim was Big Ten co-leader Illinois and All-American big man Kofi Cockburn.
Rutgers looked like a team assured of a high NCAA Tournament seed, dominating on both ends and blistering the No. 12 Illini, 70-59, at Jersey Mike’s Arena to continue a stunning run.
Rutgers has won four straight games — over Michigan State, Ohio State, Wisconsin and now Illinois — and seven of nine. Despite a number of bad losses, including setbacks to Lafayette, Northwestern and Massachusetts, the Scarlet Knights (16-9, 10-5) are very much in the NCAA Tournament picture. They certainly pass the eye test at the moment, after picking up their seventh Quad 1 victory.
To see how far the Scarlet Knights have come, they fell to Illinois by 35 points in the first meeting. In the following game, they upset then-No. 1 Purdue at the buzzer, a win that began to flip this season.
Experienced stars Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker have been joined by improving teammates Caleb McConnell, Cliff Omoruyi and Paul Mulcahy to form a standout starting lineup.
Baker wasn’t a factor against Illinois (18-7, 11-4), scoring just six points, but it didn’t matter. Omoruyi was a monster in the paint, notching 15 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. Mulcahy was again exceptional as a playmaking forward, with 13 points and seven assists. Harper finished with a team-high 16 points.
But this game was about force, and how dominant Rutgers was on the defensive end. The Scarlet Knights limited the Illini to 26 percent shooting from 3-point range, outrebounded them 46-38 and held the edge in points in the paint (40-32), fastbreak points (14-2) and second-chance points (16-9).
Rutgers led by 23 at one point and never really had to sweat it out down the stretch.
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