Sunday, the No. 19 Rutgers men’s basketball team has its toughest test of the season yet as it faces No. 13 Illinois at the RAC at 1:00 p.m. (ESPN2).
It is the first game of a stretch where five of the Scarlet Knights’ (5-0, 1-0 Big Ten) are against teams ranked in the AP Top 25 Poll.
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The Illini are 6-2 overall and were as high as No. 5 in the AP Top 25. They already beat Duke and fell to Baylor, winning against Minnesota by 27 on Wednesday. Illinois averages 88.3 points per game and leads the conference in field goal percentage at a 53.7 percent clip along with 3-point percentage (43.2) and rebound margin (+17).
“They're good,” Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said. “They remind me of the Purdue teams where they had the guys up front and a lot of guys around them creating space and shoot the basketball. They have a lot of good players. That's why they're ranked where they are and whenever you have a big guy like -- that they all rebound too. There's not a lot of weaknesses at all on this Illinois team and you have to play well.You have to play smart and stay out of foul trouble. This isn't a game where just one thing is going to be good enough. You have to do five things well. That's why they're considered one of the best teams in the country.”
Guard Ayo Dosunmo leads the team with 22.7 points per game and 36 steals. He’s also second with 53 rebounds and makes 80% of his foul shots. Big man Kofi Cockburn is averaging 16.7 points and 9.4 boards. He also has nine blocks and is shooting 68 percent. Illinois is loaded as other players to watch include Trent Frazier, Andre Curbelo, Adam Miller, Giorgi Bezhanishvilli, and Da’Monte Williams.
“They have a great guard and a great big guy,” Pikiell said of Dosunmu and Cockburn. “You can't take away everything. You have to do a really good job with Cockburn around the basket and how you're gonna give help. Ayo's gotten better. He's as good a penetrator as there is in the country. He's got great size, 6-6, and is shooting the ball at a high level. Gets to the free-throw line. We had Corey Sanders here that just could drive it and make tough shots and tough plays. He's like a 6-6 version of that. He can get 30 points on anybody, so we got to be on top of our game. We got defenders that we're gonna throw at him. Same thing with our big guys up front. Have to give him a lot of different looks so he can't be comfortable, but those are really good players. They both put their names in the draft and came back and are having excellent years.”
One way to counter Illinois on the glass is having centers Myles Johnson and Clifford Omoruyi on the court on the court at the same time like they’ve done the last two games. Johnson and Omoruyi are both 6-foot-11 and Johnson grabs 9.0 rebounds per game and Omoruyi gets a hold of 6.6.
“I just really like the fact that I have that available. I can change our lineups. I can do different things. I never had two seven-footers that play together,” Pikiell said. “A lot of that has to do a lot of trouble. Illinois draws a ton of fouls, so we got to stay out of trouble. I like it. They both play hard and they're unique. This game scares me particularly the way they round the basketball really scares. Those two guys are our two best rebounders and that could help us negate that huge advantage that they've been having against everybody.”
Rutgers went 18-1 at home a year ago including a 72-57 victory over Illinois last February. The Scarlet Knights are about two point underdogs this time around for Sunday’s matchup.
“Some people had them picked this preseason No. 1. Really good players obviously they're 23rd in the nation in points per game which is an unbelievable stat and they rebound as well as anybody,” Pikiell said. “They have two Player of the Year type players. They defend and are well coached. They do a really good job developing guys. Tough test and we have to be well prepared.”
Follow Chris Nalwasky on Twitter @ChrisWasky.
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