Illinois routs Rutgers in Big Ten opener

Alfonso Plummer scored 24 points, Kofi Cockburn had a double-double and Illinois cruised to an 86-51 victory over Rutgers on Friday night at State Farm Center in Champaign in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

Cockburn, who came in leading the nation in scoring at 26.8 points per game, had a season-low 13 points on 4-for-8 shooting and grabbed a season-high 15 rebounds. Jacob Grandison added 16 points for the Illini (6-2).

Hawkins hit a three-pointer and then Williams hit another to gave Illinois the lead for good and spark a 16-2 run that made it 18-7 with 11 minutes left in the first half. Ron Harper Jr. answered with two free throws, but Grandison had 10 points as the Illini scored 14 of the next 18 to make it 32-13 about five minutes later. Illinois led by double figures the rest of the way.

The Scarlet Knights (4-4) shot just 31% (21-for-68) from the field. Illinois was 32-for-66 (48%) from the field, hit 12 three-pointers and won the battle of the boards 47-33.