Major Illinois second-half run keeps No. 24 Rutgers winless in Champaign
Illinois Men's Basketball took down No. 24 Rutgers, 69-60, inside the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill.
Rutgers (16-9, 8-6) is now 0-7 all-time at Illinois.
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Illinois (17-7, 8-5) came back from an eight-point deficit in the first half and a six-point margin in the second for the victory. Coleman Hawkins hit a long 3-pointer at the 14:16 mark to ignite a 19-0 run. Hawkins converted a layup after an offensive rebound to give his team a 48-47 lead, Illinois' first since it was 6-5 early on.
Matthew Mayer hit a triple to make it 60-47 Illinois.
During the run, Rutgers went without a point for 10 minutes and was 0-for-14 from the floor. Oskar Palmquist stopped the surge with a mid-range jump shot.
Rutgers got it back down to nine, but no closer.
Hawkins finished with 18 points and teammate Dain Dainja had 15.
Caleb McConnell led Rutgers with 14 points while Cliff Omoruyi scored 11, and Aundre Hyatt and Paul Mulcahy each had 10.
Key stat(s)
Rebounds: Illinois is the second-best rebounding team in the Big Ten, but Rutgers out-rebounded the Illini in the first half, 21-17, and held the advantage on the offensive boards. Illinois, at the end of the day, had 40 rebounds to Rutgers' 35.
Steals: Rutgers registered five steals in the opening half and nine for the game. Rutgers leads the conference in steals-per-game with 9.48 (8.43 in Big Ten play).
1: That's the number of wins Rutgers now has at Illinois. The Scarlet Knights came in 0-6 in Champaign. Illinois still leads the all-time head-to-head series however, 5-10.
3-pointers: Illinois shot just 1-for-12 from behind the arc in the opening half. However, it connected on its first attempt a little less than three minutes into the second half.
Turnovers: Illinois won despite having 17 turnovers to just nine for Rutgers.
Turning point: Made deep 3-pointer by Illinois' Coleman Hawkins at the 14:16 mark. Hawkins eventually gave Illinois a 48-47 lead with a second-chance basket. That was the Illini's first lead since 6-5.
Rutgers was up by eight a few times in the first half and as many as six at with 15 minutes to go in the second.
Rutgers player of the game: F Caleb McConnell
McConnell was aggressive on both ends of the floor.
RHoops play of the Day: Inbound play with three seconds left on the shot clock.
Paul Mulcahy took a pass from the sideline and threw a bounce pass through traffic to Derek Simpson who ran to the rim for the tough layup
Up next: Rutgers returns to Jersey Mike's Arena in Piscataway to face Nebraska on Tuesday night at 8:00 p.m. on BTN.
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisNalwasky.
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