INDIANAPOLIS — Rutgers guard Jacob Young lost possession at the top of the key, causing a mad scramble for the ball with about seven minutes to play in the first half against Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals.
Montez Mathis had a clear path to the ball before Kofi Cockburn, Illinois’ 7-foot, 285-pound center, came barreling in to steal it. Cockburn secured the ball and then flattened Mathis, Rutgers’ 6-4, 210-pound guard, like a pancake as an official blew his whistle.
Foul on Rutgers.
An early knockout for Illinois.
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Rutgers was no match for the nation’s No. 3 team Friday night in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals, falling 90-68 here at Lucas Oil Stadium.
“We didn’t play well,’’ Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell said. “Illinois deserved to win. They looked like the No. 1 team today.’’
Illinois (21-6) scored a wire-to-wire triumph, leading by double-digits for the final 29 minutes en route to avenging a 91-88 setback at the hands of the Scarlet Knights on Dec. 20.
For Rutgers, Ron Harper Jr. scored 21 points — eclipsing the 1,000-point plateau for his career in the process — and Geo Baker finished with 10 points.
Ayo Dosunmu led all scorers with 23 points and Cockburn finished with 18 points and 12 rebounds for Illinois.
This was a totally different result from the first outing in Piscataway 82 days ago. In that one, Rutgers got to the line a whopping 36 times, converting 25 free throws for a 69.4% conversion rate. Illinois converted at an 11-for-15 (73.3%) clip, prompting coach Brad Underwood to say no team is “going to win on the road with a 21 free throw discrepancy.’’
Rutgers was charged with 24 personal fouls, and Illinois converted 21 of 31 free throws. Rutgers attempted 22 free throws, converting at a 72.7 % clip.
“We got into tremendous foul trouble,’’ Pikiell said. “I thought we grinded back into it, got within 12, but couldn’t get over the hill.’’
Rutgers out-rebounded Illinois, now the nation’s fourth-best rebounding team, 35-34 in its December win. On Friday night, the Illini held a whopping 44-19 rebounding margin.
It marked Rutgers’ most lopsided defeat since a 23-point setback at Michigan State on Jan. 5.
Illinois won for the 16th time in 19 games since falling to Rutgers.
The Illini advanced to the Big Ten Tournament semifinals, where they will meet either Iowa or Wisconsin on Saturday afternoon.
Rutgers got off to a slow start for the fifth straight game, falling behind 9-0 after committing four turnovers through the first three minutes.
Rutgers’ first basket came 3 minutes, 29 seconds into the game courtesy of a Myles Johnson layup. The Scarlet Knights woke up after that, using a 9-2 run, capped by a Jacob Young conventional 3-point play, to pull within two points.
But fouls became an issue for Rutgers, which committed its seventh foul to land in the bonus eight minutes, 30 seconds into the game.
Johnson and Cliff Omoruyi each had two fouls during that span, which meant Rutgers was without the services of its two best post players for the bulk of the first half.
That wasn’t good news considering Rutgers had to defend Cockburn, a likely NBA first-round pick, presented a matchup nightmare for third-string center Mamadou Doucoure.
Illinois took advantage, shooting 54.8 % from the field thanks to 26 points in the paint and dominating the boards to a tune of a 22-8 first-half advantage.
Trent Frazier’s buzzer-beating jumper gave Illinois its largest first-half lead — 47-28 — at intermission.
Rutgers was never closer than 12 points in the second half.
Rutgers will now await its NCAA Tournament fate, a virtual lock to see its name pop up in the bracket for the first time in 30 years.
Just seven days ago, the Scarlet Knights were believed to have needed to win at Minnesota in order to assure themselves an at-large bid to the big dance. They did just that, sweating out an overtime win over the Gophers before cementing their case with a Big Ten Tournament second-round triumph over Indiana.
The majority of bracketologists have Rutgers pegged as an 8, 9 or 10 seed. ESPN.com has Rutgers as a 9-seed, matched up with Loyola-Chicago in a region that includes top-seeded Baylor.
Rutgers’ resume includes a 15-11 record, a 10-10 mark in Big Ten play that was good enough for a tied-for-6th-place finish in arguably the nation’s toughest conference and a 5-8 record against Quad 1 foes.
The NCAA Tournament begins on Friday, March 19, here in Indianapolis. The Scarlet Knights won’t return to Piscataway, instead practicing at an Indiana gym in preparation for their first-round opponent.
Like the rest of the Big Ten’s likely NCAA Tournament participants, the Scarlet Knights are expected to be under tight COVID-19 social-distancing restrictions starting this weekend.
They will likely watch the tournament’s Selection Show together at their team hotel.
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