How to watch Illinois Fighting Illini vs. Rutgers Scarlet Knights: Live stream, TV channel, start time for Sunday’s NCAA Basketball game

Halftime Report

Only one more half stands between Illinois and the win they were favored to collect coming into this afternoon. They have a bit of a cushion as they currently lead Rutgers 40-28.

If Illinois keeps playing like this, they’ll bump their record up to 14-4 in no time. On the other hand, Rutgers will have to make due with a 10-8 record unless they turn things around (and fast).

Who’s Playing

Rutgers Scarlet Knights @ Illinois Fighting Illini

Current Records: Rutgers 10-7, Illinois 13-4

How To Watch

What to Know

We’ve got another exciting Big Ten matchup on schedule as the Illinois Fighting Illini and the Rutgers Scarlet Knights are set to tip at 1:00 p.m. ET on January 21st at State Farm Center. Keep an eye on the score for this one: the two teams posted some lofty point totals in their previous games.

Last Thursday, the Fighting Illini didn’t have too much trouble with the Wolverines on the road as they won 88-73.

Illinois can attribute much of their success to Coleman Hawkins, who dropped a double-double on 21 points and ten rebounds. Hawkins set a new season high mark in steals with six. Another player making a difference was Quincy Guerrier, who dropped a double-double on 16 points and 14 rebounds.

Meanwhile, Rutgers scored the most points they’ve had all season to find success on Wednesday. They came out on top against the Cornhuskers by a score of 87-82. The win came about thanks to a strong surge starting at the 8:53 mark of the first half, when Rutgers was facing a 27-15 deficit.

Rutgers got their win on the backs of several key players, but it was Derek Simpson out in front who scored 14 points along with eight assists and eight rebounds. Those eight assists set a new season-high mark for him. The team also got some help courtesy of Clifford Omoruyi, who dropped a double-double on 14 points and 15 rebounds.

The Fighting Illini’s victory bumped their record up to 13-4. As for the Scarlet Knights, they pushed their record up to 10-7 with that victory, which was their fourth straight at home.

Sunday’s game is shaping up to be a blowout: Illinois just can’t miss this season, having made 46.8% of their shots per game. It’s a different story for Rutgers, though, as they’ve only made 39.1% of their shots per game this season. Given Illinois’ sizeable advantage in that area, Rutgers will need to find a way to close that gap.

Looking ahead, Illinois is the favorite in this one, as the experts expect to see them win by 12 points. For those looking to play the spread, keep Illinois in mind: they have a solid 11-5-1 record against the spread this season.

Odds

Illinois is a big 12-point favorite against Rutgers, according to the latest college basketball odds.

Bettors have moved against the Fighting Illini slightly, as the game opened with the Fighting Illini as a 13.5-point favorite.

The over/under is set at 145.5 points.

See college basketball picks for every single game, including this one, from SportsLine’s advanced computer model. Get picks now.

Series History

Illinois has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Rutgers.

• Dec 02, 2023 – Illinois 76 vs. Rutgers 58
• Feb 11, 2023 – Illinois 69 vs. Rutgers 60
• Feb 16, 2022 – Rutgers 70 vs. Illinois 59
• Dec 03, 2021 – Illinois 86 vs. Rutgers 51
• Mar 12, 2021 – Illinois 90 vs. Rutgers 68
• Dec 20, 2020 – Rutgers 91 vs. Illinois 88
• Feb 15, 2020 – Rutgers 72 vs. Illinois 57
• Jan 11, 2020 – Illinois 54 vs. Rutgers 51
• Feb 09, 2019 – Illinois 99 vs. Rutgers 94
• Feb 25, 2018 – Illinois 75 vs. Rutgers 62