PRONUNCIATIONS Second Half, Snapping the Terps’ 21-Game Assists
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No. 19/17 Rutgers Scarlet Knights (5-0, 1-0) vs. No. 13/13 Illinois Fighting Illini (6-2, 1-0) 2020-21 Schedule/Results Sunday, December 20 | 1 p.m. (ET) Date Opponent .................. Time (p.m.)/TV The RAC | Piscataway, N.J. N25 Sacred Heart .......................... W, 86-63 TV: ESPN2 (Jason Benetti, play-by-play; Dan Dakich, analyst) N27 FDU (HG) ................................ W, 96-75 Radio: Rutgers Sports Properties Radio Network (WCTC 1450 AM/WOR 710 AM/Sirius 98/ XM N29 Hofstra (HG) ........................... W, 70-56 195, Chris Carlin & Joe Boylan); WRSU 88.7 FM (Chris Tsakonas and Troy DeSavino) D8 Syracuse (ACCB1G) ................ W, 79-69 Series Record: Illinois leads 8-2 D14 at RV Maryland* ..................... W, 74-60 Last Meeting: Rutgers 72, No. 22 Illinois 57 D20 13/13 Illinois* ...............1 p.m. / ESPN2 OPENING TIP: No. 19/17 Rutgers returns D23 at 20/19 Ohio State* ....4:30 p.m / BTN him to miss the next three games. He came to The RAC for the first home Big Ten game off the bench to play 28 minutes and score D29 Purdue* .............................7 p.m. / FS1 of the season as the Scarlet Knights will 13 points. His return steadied an offense J2 3/3 Iowa* ..2 or 4 p.m. /ESPN2/ESPNU host No. 13/13 Illinois at 1 p.m. on Sunday. that had just eight turnovers against a Terps J5 at 4/4 Michigan State* ...9 pm / ESPN2 The game will be broadcast on ESPN2. squad that entered forcing 15 per game. J9 20/19 Ohio State* ...............TBD / BTN J12 at RV Penn State* .............8 p.m. / BTN The game starts a stretch where five of Myles Johnson was a force down low in the J15 12/12 Wisconsin* ..............7 p.m. / FS1 Rutgers’ next six games are against team’s Maryland game, hauling in a career-high 16 J24 at RV/RV Indiana* ................TBD / BTN ranked in the AP Top 25, facing No. 13 rebounds. He collected a double-double J28 4/4 Michigan State* .............TBD / FS1 Illinois, playing No. 20 Ohio State twice, with 10 points and also was credited with J31 at Northwestern* ................TBD / BTN and top-5 matchups against No. 3 Iowa and three blocks. at No. 4 Michigan State, all by January 9. F4 RV Minnesota* .....................TBD / FS1 Rutgers currently has the fourth toughest THE OPPONENT: Illinois enters a 6-2 over- F10 at 3/3 Iowa* .........................TBD / BTN remaining schedule in the nation per ESPN. all, dipping in last weeks rankings to No. F13 Northwestern* ....................TBD / BTN 13 after being as high as number five in the F18 at 25/24 Michigan* ..............TBD / BTN RU has started the season off with a 5-0 AP poll. The Illini’s non-conference schedule F21 RV Maryland* ......................TBD / BTN mark, winning all its games by double-digit featured a win over No. 10 Duke setback F24 RV/RV Indiana* ....................TBD / BTN margins. It is the first time that the program against No. 2 Baylor. The team defeated F28 at Nebraska* .......................TBD / BTN has earned double-digit margins of victory Minnesota, 92-65, in their league opener. M6 at RV Minnesota* .................TBD / FS1 in five consecutive games to begin a season Big Ten Tournament in Chicago since the 1934-35 campaign. The Illini are averaging 88.3 points per March 10-14 ............................................ TBD game. The squad paces the Big Ten in field Last time out, Rutgers earned a 74-60 win goal percentage (53.7 percent), three-point * - Big Ten Conference. All Times Eastern. at Maryland on Monday night. It marked percentage (43.2) and rebound margin AP rank. HG - NJ Hoop Group Classic AC- the first time RU had ever won its Big Ten (+17.0). Center Kofi Cockburn has four opener and was the team’s first win in Col- CB1G - ACC-Big Ten Challenge double-doubles this season, averaging lege Park since 1941. RU closed the game 16.7 points and 9.4 rebounds. Guard Ayo strong, outscoring the hosts 47-32 in the Dosunmu averages 22.7 points and 5.1 PRONUNCIATIONS second half, snapping the Terps’ 21-game assists. Both players join Ron Harper Jr. on home winning streak when leading at half. the Wooden Award Watch List preseason Mamadou Doucoure: MOM-uh-do That performance came on the heels of a listing of the nation’s best players. do-CORE-a similarly strong finish in the previous game Daniel Lobach: LOW-bach against Syracuse, where RU held the Or- THE SERIES: The Scarlet Knights claimed a Mawot Mag: MUH-watt ange without a field goal in the final 5:38 to double-digit victory over the 22nd ranked close a win with a 17-4 run. Illini the last time these two teams met, win- Montez Mathis: mahn-TEZ ning 72-57 in front of a sold-out RAC. Ron Paul Mulcahy: mull-KAY-he Ron Harper Jr. has excelled through five Harper Jr. was 11-of-14 from the field, in- Cliff Omoruyi: oh-mo-ROO-yee games, leading the team in scoring at 23.2 cluding 5-of-5 from behind the arc, to score Dean Reiber: REE-burr points per game, which is second in the a game-high 27 points. RU held the visitors Steve Pikiell: PIKE-uhl Big Ten and 11th nationally. He is ranked to 31.1 percent shooting, the third worst in the top-10 of multiple national Player of field goal percentage by an opponent in a the Year rankings, coming in 4th per Bart Big Ten game since RU joined the league. Rated Rutgers Torvik and 9th per Ken Pom. The junior had Associated Press ....................................... 19 27 points in the win Monday, has scored at Overall, this is the 11th meeting in the se- Coaches Poll ............................................. 17 least 15 points in every game this season ries. The teams had played just once before Ken Pomeroy ............................................. 19 and reached 25+ points in three of the five. RU joined the Big Ten, a neutral site meet- Since facing Illinois last season (Feb. 15), ing in 2005 in South Padre Island, Texas. For the first time in 42 years, Rutgers was Harper Jr. has scored at least 15 points in Both victories in the series have come with 8 of the 11 games and over 20 points in ranked in the preseason, the first time since Pikiell at the helm, with RU also earning five of those contests. He is averaging 19.1 a 62-59 Senior Day victory in Pikiell’s first the preseason polls in 1978-79. points per game in that 11-game span. season. Harper Jr. leads the conference in three- Athletic Communications pointers made (3.2 per game), while along- Head Coach Steve Pikiell Men’s Basketball SID: Jordan Ozer side him, point guard Jacob Young is the Cell Phone: 973-202-9728 league leader in assists (6.0) and steals (3.0). Email: [email protected] Overall Record (years) .........260-221 (16th) All interviews will be conducted virtually via Geo Baker made his return to game action Rutgers Record (years) ..............69-65 (5th) Webex, please reach out for connection info. Monday after suffering an ankle injury in the Record vs. Illinois (RU/overall) ....... 2-4/2-4 opening half of the season that had caused 0 GEO BAKER 1 OSKAR PALMQUIST 2 DANIEL LOBACH 3 MAWOT MAG 4 PAUL MULCAHY 5 CLIFF OMORUYI Sr. • 6-4 • 195 • G Fr. • 6-8 • 220 • F Fr. • 6-7 • 210 • F Fr. • 6-7 • 215 • F So. • 6-6 • 210 • G Fr. • 6-11 • 240 • C Derry, N.H. Kinna, Sweden Durham, N.C. Melbourne, Australia Bayonne, N.J. Benin City, Nigeria 10 MONTEZ MATHIS 11 MAMADOU DOUCOURE 15 MYLES JOHNSON 21 DEAN REIBER 22 CALEB MCCONNELL 23 NICK BROOKS Jr. • 6-4 • 210 • G Jr. • 6-9 • 250 • F Jr. • 6-11 • 255 • C Fr. • 6-10 • 225 • F Jr. • 6-7 • 195 • G Sr. • 6-1 • 185 • G Baltimore, Md. Bamako, Mali Long Beach, Calif. Greensboro, N.C. Jacksonville, Fla. Somerset, N.J. 24 RON HARPER JR. 25 AIDEN TERRY 42 JACOB YOUNG 55 LUKE NATHAN STEVE PIKIELL KARL HOBBS Jr. • 6-6 • 245 • G/F Fr.. • 5-11 • 150 • G Sr. • 6-2 • 185 • G Jr. • 6-11 • 245 • F/C Head Coach Associate Head Coach Franklin Lakes, N.J. Mt. Washington, Ky. Houston, Texas Randolph, N.J. BRANDIN KNIGHT STEVE HAYN GREG VETRONE DAVID VANDYKE BEN ASHER MIKE LARKIN Assistant Coach Assistant Coach Dir. Player Devel. Asst. AD-Strength & Cond. Director of Ops/Recruiting Special Assistant No. Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Cl. Hometown/Previous School (s) 0 Geo Baker G 6-4 195 Sr. Derry, N.H./Proctor Academy 1 Oskar Palmquist F 6-8 220 Fr. Kinna, Sweden / Central Pointe Christian Academy (Fla.) 2 Daniel Lobach F 6-7 210 Fr. Durham, N.C. / Moravian Prep 3 Mawot Mag F 6-7 215 Fr. Juba, South Sudan / Prolific Prep (Calif.) 4 Paul Mulcahy G 6-6 210 So. Bayonne, N.J./Gill St. Bernard’s 5 Cliff Omoruyi C 6-11 240 Fr. Benin City, Nigeria / Roselle Catholic 10 Montez Mathis G 6-4 210 Jr. Baltimore, Md. /The John Carroll School 11 Mamadou Doucoure F 6-9 250 Jr. Bamako, Mali/Our Savior New American School (N.Y.) 15 Myles Johnson C 6-11 255 Jr. Long Beach, Calif./Long Beach (Calif.) Polytechnic T.J. THOMPSON RICHARD CAMPBELL 21 Dean Reiber F 6-10 225 Fr. Greensboro, N.C. / Northwest Guilford High School Director of Basketball Admin Athletic Trainer 22 Caleb McConnell G 6-7 195 Jr.