PISCATAWAY, N.J. – Rutgers men’s basketball earned its first ranked win of the season and 50th all-time in a 82-73 thriller over No. 23 Illinois Wednesday evening.
The Scarlet Knights started out strong, leading 23-6 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the first half, but Illinois crawled back to cut the deficit to eight. Rutgers took a 37-29 advantage into the break.
Freshman Dylan Harper was excellent in his return to action – he finished with 28 points, six rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Harper had not played since Jan. 25 against Michigan State due to injury.
Fellow five-star Ace Bailey scored two of his 18 points to open up the second half on a backdoor slam from Harper. Bailey notched his seventh career double-double with 11 rebounds and added three blocks.
Rutgers led for 33 minutes throughout the contest including by as many as 17, but Illinois kept chipping away and took a 55-52 lead with 10 minutes left. Fifth-year PJ Hayes and captain Zach Martini responded with back-to-back threes to regain the lead.
Captain Jeremiah Williams had a strong performance after being limited in the previous game with an illness. He posted 13 points including 7-for-8 from the free-throw line.
Rutgers shot 28-for-34 (82 percent) from the charity stripe overall, Illinois 13-for-19. Harper was 11-for-12 at the line including big makes down the stretch.
RU’s defense…
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