Who’s Playing
Rutgers Scarlet Knights @ Illinois Fighting Illini
Current Records: Rutgers 10-7, Illinois 13-4
How To Watch
- When: Sunday, January 21, 2024 at 1 p.m. ET
- Where: State Farm Center — Champaign, Illinois
- TV: Big Ten Network
- Follow: CBS Sports App
- Online Streaming: Catch select College Basketball matches on Fubo (Try for free. Regional restrictions may apply.)
What to Know
We’ve got another exciting Big Ten matchup on schedule as the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights are set to tip at 1:00 p.m. ET on January 21st at State Farm Center. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.
On Thursday, the Fighting Illini didn’t have too much trouble with the Wolverines on the road as they won 88-73.
Illinois can attribute much of their success to Coleman Hawkins, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten rebounds. Hawkins set a new season high mark in steals with six. Another player making a difference was Quincy Guerrier, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 14 rebounds.
Meanwhile, Rutgers scored the most points they’ve had all season to find success on Wednesday. They came out on top against the Cornhuskers by a score of 87-82. The win came about thanks to a strong surge starting at the 8:53 mark of the first half, when Rutgers was facing a 27-15 deficit.
Rutgers got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Derek Simpson out in front who scored 14 points along with eight assists and eight rebounds. Those eight assists set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Clifford Omoruyi, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 15 rebounds.
The Fighting Illini’s victory bumped their record up to 13-4. As for the Scarlet Knights, they pushed their record up to 10-7 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home.
Sunday’s game is shaping up to be a blowout: Illinois just can’t miss this season, having made 46.8% of their shots per game. It’s a different story for Rutgers, though, as they’ve only made 39.1% of their shots per game this season. Given Illinois’ sizeable advantage in that area, Rutgers will need to find a way to close that gap.
Illinois strolled past Rutgers in their previous matchup back in December of 2023 by a score of 76-58. Does Illinois have another victory up their sleeve, or will Rutgers turn the tables on them? We’ll have the answer soon enough.
Series History
Illinois has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Rutgers.
- Dec 02, 2023 – Illinois 76 vs. Rutgers 58
- Feb 11, 2023 – Illinois 69 vs. Rutgers 60
- Feb 16, 2022 – Rutgers 70 vs. Illinois 59
- Dec 03, 2021 – Illinois 86 vs. Rutgers 51
- Mar 12, 2021 – Illinois 90 vs. Rutgers 68
- Dec 20, 2020 – Rutgers 91 vs. Illinois 88
- Feb 15, 2020 – Rutgers 72 vs. Illinois 57
- Jan 11, 2020 – Illinois 54 vs. Rutgers 51
- Feb 09, 2019 – Illinois 99 vs. Rutgers 94
- Feb 25, 2018 – Illinois 75 vs. Rutgers 62
