Remarkable run to finish 1st half helps No. 16 Illinois bury Rutgers

No. 16 Illinois reeled off the final 20 points of the first half to fuel an 81-55 Big Ten victory over Rutgers on Thursday night in Champaign, Ill.

The Fighting Illini (12-3, 3-1) held the Scarlet Knights (8-8, 1-4) scoreless for the final 8:11 of the first half - a stretch of 13 fruitless possessions - to seize a 43-16 halftime lead.

Keaton Wagler paced a balanced Illinois attack with 17 points and seven rebounds. Tomislav Ivisic scored 14 points, while Jake Davis and Andrej Stojakovic added 12 points apiece. Stojakovic grabbed eight rebounds as the Illini owned a 45-32 advantage on the boards.

Freshman Kaden Powers led Rutgers with 12 points, one off his season high. Harun Zrno added 11 points and five rebounds as the Scarlet Knights shot 36.5% from the field and 37.5% at the line.

Rutgers, which came in with momentum after defeating Oregon in overtime on Monday night, enjoyed a few fleeting moments of glory. Zrno drilled a 3-pointer on the game's first possession.

After Illinois took the lead, leading scorer Tariq Francis came off the bench and hit a floater to pull Rutgers within 11-8 at the 14:14 mark.

That's when Illinois embarked on its first big spree.

Davis came off the bench to drill back-to-back 3-pointers, then Stojakovic drove for a layup to give Illinois a 19-8 lead and force Rutgers to spend a timeout with 11:43 to go. After that break, David Mirkovic backed down his defender and fed Ivisic for a 5-foot flip to cap a 10-0 run.

Darren Buchanan Jr. sparked the Scarlet Knights with an assist, a double-pump 15-footer and a rare 3-pointer to pull Rutgers within 23-16, but that triggered Illinois' 20-0 run to close out the half.

Davis triggered it with his third of four first-half 3-pointers. Mirkovic pump-faked at the 3-point arc to set up an easy drive for a layup. Wagler backed down a smaller guard and hit a bank shot for a 3-point play that made it 31-16 with 6:09 to go.

While Rutgers was busy going 0-for-12 from the field, 0-for-2 at the line and committing two turnovers to close the half, Davis and Wagler hit back-to-back 3-pointers before Wagler canned another short bank just before the buzzer to make it 43-16 at the break.