Illinois beats Rutgers for first road win

[February 26, 2018]  Michael Finke provided a spark off the bench for Illinois, and the Fighting Illini won on the road for the time this season in a 75-62 victory over Rutgers on Sunday in the Big Ten regular-season finale for both teams at Louis Brown Athletic Center in Piscataway, N.J.

Finke scored 19 points, and Aaron Jordan added 15 points for the Illini (14-17, 4-14 Big Ten), who snapped a two-game slide and completed the regular-season sweep of Rutgers.

Illinois' bench outscored Rutgers' reserves 37-5.

Leron Black, the Illini's leading scorer on the season, was saddled by foul trouble for much of the game but did fuel a second-half spurt for Illinois with a pair of 3-pointers. Black finished with 14 points.

The Illini built their first double-digit lead, 64-53, with seven minutes to play. The Scarlett Knights never responded and lost their third straight game.

Corey Sanders led Rutgers with 18 points, and Eugene Omoruyi added 14 points for the Knights (13-18, 3-15 Big Ten), who have dropped 10 of 11 overall.

Rutgers led 26-25 after a layup from Sanders with 5:41 left in the first half. Illinois answered with a 10-2 spurt, capped by a pair of free throws from Finke, and took a 35-30 lead into halftime. Finke had 10 points to lead all scorers in the first half.

Sanders got behind the defense for a breakaway dunk that trimmed the Illinois lead to 48-45 midway through the second half. But that's when Black got going and squashed the Rutgers' rally.

 

 Illinois Fighting Illini forward Michael Finke (43) drives to the basket against Rutgers Scarlet Knights forward Deshawn Freeman (33) during first half at Louis Brown Athletic Center. Mandatory Credit: Noah K. Murray-USA TODAY Sports

Illinois blew out Rutgers 91-60 on Jan. 30, but lost six of its next seven games and struggled down the stretch of coach Brad Underwood's first season.

The Big Ten tournament tips off Wednesday at Madison Square Garden. Both teams will be in action on Wednesday and could see each other again in the opening game between the No. 12 and No. 13 seeds.

Rutgers honored Candido Sa, Mike Williams, Jake Dadika and Deshawn Freeman before the game for Senior Day.

--Field Level Media

[© 2018 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]

Copyright 2018 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.