Rutgers outrebounded, outplayed in Big Ten opener vs. Illinois

Steve Pikiell looks on as Rutgers battles Illinois. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — Winners of five straight since a season-opening loss to still-undefeated Princeton, Rutgers faced its stiffest test since the setback to the Tigers, when Illinois invaded Jersey Mike’s Arena Saturday to open Big Ten Conference play.

And on an evening where the league will bestow its football championship on either Michigan or Iowa, Rutgers was taken to the proverbial woodshed in a similar vein to how its gridiron outfit has had to endure battle scars through the majority of its Big Ten tenure.

Facing a massive size disadvantage and a swarming defense, the Scarlet Knights dug a deep hole early and fought their way back, only to surrender another run after halftime as the 24th-ranked Illini pulled away to a decisive 76-58 victory.

“It’s disappointing how we played,” head coach Steve Pikiell reflected. “It’s on me. We talked a lot about what we needed to do in this game (and) it was the first time I felt like we didn’t follow through with the scouting report. But I do want to say this: I think Illinois is really good. They played really, really well, and we obviously have to play better against a team of that caliber.”

Rutgers (5-2, 0-1 Big Ten) placed itself behind the 8-ball in the opening minutes as Illinois built a sizable 14-2 advantage by utilizing its height and physicality to bully the Scarlet Knights. By the time the final buzzer sounded, the hosts were minus-28 on the glass, yielding more offensive rebounds to the Illini than Rutgers had on the defensive glass (19-18), and were embarrassed on the boards to the tune of a 55-27 overall margin.

“We just didn’t do what we needed to do on the backboards,” Pikiell lamented. “We didn’t get our own offensive rebounds. We missed a lot and they manhandled us on the glass, and I’m not happy with that. They had size at every position and I knew that would be an issue for us, but I didn’t think it would be that much of an issue. They got us every which way you could get us on the backboards. We could have withstood all that if we just limited them to one shot and did a better job on the backboards.”

Trailing 34-20 late in the first half, Rutgers began building momentum with an 11-0 run to pull within three, but would draw no closer than that. Following Jamichael Davis’ 3-pointer that trimmed the deficit to 34-31, Illinois point guard Terrence Shannon drove inside, appearing to lead with his elbow as Derek Simpson was knocked down in the lane. What would normally be called a charge in that situation was whistled as a block by referee Courtney Green, who rang Simpson up for the foul. The Scarlet Knights went into halftime down just five, but a 23-8 Illini run out of the locker room lowered the curtain on a potential home victory to open league play.

“I thought for a few minutes there, I thought we played really good Rutgers basketball,” Pikiell said. “But it’s a 40-minute game. (We were) just not on point in order to beat a ranked team and a really good, well-coached team.”

“It was not what I wanted,” he added with regard to the second-half run by Illinois. “I thought we ended the first half the right way. It’s always a game of runs, they made a run on us, we made a run and got ourselves back where we needed to be. The last game, we started on a 23-7 run in the second half, but today we didn’t. The ball wasn’t falling, I was a little disappointed that when the ball wasn’t falling, it affected our defense. That can’t be the case. This is one of those games where you could still keep yourself hanging around if you continue to plug through some difficult stretches. We certainly weren’t able to do that in the second half today.”

With ten NBA scouts present, Shannon — currently the 44th overall pick in ESPN’s most recent mock draft — did not disappoint, putting on a show with 23 points and 10 rebounds to solidify his status among the nation’s elite point guards.

Illinois’ Terrence Shannon dominated Rutgers with 23 points and 10 rebounds in Illini win Saturday. (Photo by Bob Dea/Daly Dose Of Hoops)

“He’s playing at an unbelievable level,” said Pikiell. “Not only is he a man physically and athletic as can be, he’s really shooting the ball this year. Now he gets you in transition, he gets you in halfcourt sets, he’s one of the best players in the country. I thought we would mix it up with him, (but) it seemed like anyone we put on him didn’t affect him. A tip of the hat to him.”

Rutgers is now left to pick up the pieces in a stretch that does not get any easier, heading to Wake Forest Wednesday before Saturday night’s annual clash with in-state rival Seton Hall. But before any attention can be diverted to the Demon Deacons or Pirates, Pikiell first needs to address the concerns within his own walls, particularly the rebounding issues that are normally atypical of his program over the years.

“Our backcourt, first of all, has to rebound for us,” he reiterated. “It’s on me to figure this out and I didn’t have these guys where they needed to be with that. I’ve got to look at my approach. We just didn’t get them in a place where transition defense was huge and rebounding the ball was emphasized enough. That backcourt’s interesting. J-Mike played with great energy, Noah (Fernandes) is crafty, Derek’s continuing to improve too as a player. But it’s Big Ten basketball. You watch these teams play (and) they’re really good. Our backcourt has to learn lessons from today and take it with them as we move forward.”

“Hopefully we took a punch today. We gotta get off the mat, we’re playing good teams the rest of the year. We’ve gotta continue to get better. These guys work at it, which I like, but we’ve gotta go on the road now and start playing better basketball.”