The State Farm Center was packed on Sunday afternoon as the No. 14 Illini welcomed the Scarlet Knights to Champaign. Coming off a dominant road win at Michigan, Illinois kept the good times rolling with an 86-63 victory over Rutgers.
Head coach Brad Underwood informed the media yesterday of his decision to not start fifth-year guard Terrence Shannon Jr. as he gets back into proper game shape. Underwood opted for his recent starting five of sophomore guard Ty Rodgers, junior guard Luke Goode, graduate student forward Marcus Domask, graduate student forward Quincy Guerrier and senior forward Coleman Hawkins.
Guerrier won the opening tipoff and two free throws shortly after to get the Illini on the board. Illinois got off to a strong start, aided by early momentum from the introduction of a specific guard at the 17:37 mark.
The return of Shannon was met with a massive roar from around the State Farm Center. The Chicago native picked up right where he left off, dishing out two assists to Hawkins that caused the exuberant sea of orange to erupt.
Illinois struggled from beyond the arc early on, with Goode nailing the team’s first triple in eight attempts with 7:23 remaining in the first. The Illini’s comfortable lead came as a result of their dominance in the paint, cleaning up missed shots and efficient shooting from close. By the end of the first half, Illinois were ahead by a 40-28 margin.
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The Illini came out of the halftime break strong, putting on a defensive show that forced the Scarlet Knights into an early 3:37 scoring drought. The early momentum began to fizzle out as Rutgers got back in its groove; starting at the 13:56 mark, the visitors had put together a 6-0 run.
Much to the Orange Krush’s displeasure, the Illini really began to slow down as the Scarlet Knights increased their scoring run to 11-1. As the discomfort began to grow around the arena, Rutgers battled its way back within five points.
Shannon brought the energy back into the building as he laid in two consecutive buckets for his first field goal of the game. With the State Farm Center back on its feet, the Illini quickly began to wake up and got going on a 12-3 run.
The final 10 minutes were all Illinois as the momentum fully shifted back into its favor. The final stretch was highlighted as Shannon forced a turnover and sprinted down the floor to finish the emphatic one-handed slam that caused yet another ear-deafening roar from the crowd.
By the end of regulation, the Illini secured the dominant 86-63 win to improve to 14-4 overall and 5-2 in the Big Ten. An ultra-efficient shooting night from graduate student guard Justin Harmon saw him finish as the team’s leading scorer with 18 points. Shannon was just behind with 16 points in his return to action.
Illinois will be back in action on Wednesday with a quick road trip north to take on its in-state rival Northwestern.
@james_kim15
