Piscataway, NJ – This game belonged to Rutgers and they pulled off the 62-59 upset at home over Illinois. Rutgers was able to get out to a quick lead out of the gates and continue their strong play throughout the game. DeShawn Freeman was the hero of the night as he knocked down a three-point shot late in the game to seal the win for the Scarlet Knights.
The 6-7 Freeman finished with 21 points and five rebounds. 6-2 Corey Sanders was also able to control the tempo of the game and attack the rim. Sanders finished with 17 points and was the only other Rutgers player in double figures.
The Senior Day Rutgers win will likely keep Illinois out of the NCAA tournament. Illinois guard Malcolm Hill did a good job of contributing finishing with 16 points and seven assists. He was able to get their big man 6-10 Maverick Morgan going as he was able to dominate the paint most of the game finishing with 16 points and eight rebounds. This game came down to the stingy Rutgers defense holding Illinois to 35 percent shooting.
This was a big game for a Illinois team that is considered to be one the first four teams out of the NCAA bracket. Losing to a struggling Rutgers team will not help the cause. Rutgers will look to build some momentum going into the Big Ten tournament after this solid performance against a hungry Illinois team.
This article was written by Eric Kelly, a correspondent and scout for NetScouts Basketball. You can subscribe to our RSS feed from the upper right corner of our home page, follow us on Facebook, or on twitter.
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