By IlliniGuys Staff

February 5, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

PISCATAWAY, N.J. - 23rd ranked Illinois scored a whopping 76 points in the final 30 minutes of the game.

But it wasn't enough.

The Illini rallied from an early 23-6 deficit to take a second half lead, but Rutgers clamped down late, allowing the visitors just one field goal and just six points in the final four and a half minutes to score the 82-73 upset Wednesday night.

Illinois (15-8, 7-6 in Big Ten) came out of the locker room ice cold, missing 13 of their first 16 shots and all eight attempts from outside the arc to fall behind by 17 points. Freshman Will Riley, as he has done before, came off the bench to score seven points in the final five minutes of the first half as the Illini rallied to close within 37-29 at halftime.

In the second half, they passed up shots at the three-point line and began driving to the lane, hitting 10 of their first 13 shots in the period to take a 53-50 lead. But they ran out of gas as Scarlet Knights star freshmen Dylan Harper scored 28 points and Ace Bailey added 18.

Riley finished with a team-high 18 points. Ben Humrichous had 14 and Morez Johnson Jr. scored 11 in his fifth straight start. Kylan Boswell started in place of Tre White, who missed the game due to injury, and led the team in rebounds with 10.

While Riley shined in front of nearly three dozen NBA scouts, it was a second straight lackluster game for fellow freshman Kasparas Jakucionis, who managed seven points on 2-of-8 shooting with a pair of assists and two rebounds in 27 minutes.

Rutgers improves to 12-11 overall and 5-7 in Big Ten play.

Illinois has now lost five of its last eight games - and three straight on the road - as they now have a quick turnaround before playing at Minnesota on Saturday. That's a 5pm CST tipoff and can be seen on Big Ten Network.