Rutgers Meets Illinois State Tuesday Evening in Cancun, Mexico
Nov 20 | Men's Basketball
Cancun, Mexico - Rutgers (3-1) takes flight for foreign territory to meet Illinois State (2-1) in a 6 p.m. local (7 p.m. Eastern) tip-off on Tuesday (Nov. 22) evening at the Moon Palace Resort's Galactic Ballroom in the 2011 Triple Crown Cancun Challenge. In their history the Scarlet Knights have played multiple times outside of the continental United States in Hawaii, but the match-ups in Cancun will mark the first regular season games in RU men's basketball history to require a passport.
Rutgers and Illinois State are competing in the Mayan Division with Illinois and Richmond. Depending on Tuesday evening's outcome, the Scarlet Knights will meet either the Fighting Illini or Spiders at 7 or 9:30 p.m. on Wednesday (Nov. 23) evening. RU played two contests stateside in the Challenge at the RAC, defeating Sacred Heart 91-75 and Hampton 66-52.
The games will be televised live on the CBS Sports Network with Thad Anderson calling the action and Pete Gillen offering the analysis. On the radio, the contests will be broadcast live on the Rutgers Radio Network, WOR 710 AM in New York and WCTC 1450 AM in New Brunswick. Chris Carlin will serve as play-by-play announcer and Dick Lloyd will provide commentary. WRSU (88.7) will also broadcast the games.
Tuesday evening's contest will mark the first meeting on the collegiate hardwood between the Scarlet Knights and Redbirds. RU is 4-3 all-time against current members of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Rutgers, under the direction of second-year head coach Mike Rice, is coming off a convincing 66-52 home defeat of Hampton Sunday afternoon. Sophomore forward Gilvydas Biruta (Jonava, Lithuania) had his third career double-double with 17 points and a career-best 12 rebounds as the Scarlet Knights led from start to finish. RU forced 26 turnovers, shot 85.2 percent (23-27) from the foul line and out-rebounded the Pirates by a 47-33 margin. Freshman guard Jerome Seagears (Silver Spring, Md.) tallied double figures for a second consecutive game with 10 points on four-of-eight shooting.
Biruta leads in the Scarlet Knights in scoring with 11.8 points-per-game and rebounding with 8.0 boards-per-contest.
Illinois State, under the leadership of fourth-year head coach Tim Jankovich, is coming off a 78-70 home victory over Lipscomb on Saturday. Five Redbirds scored in double figures, including junior guard Tyler Brown, who registered 19 points. Illinois State attempted 28 free throws, depositing 22. Junior forward Jackie Carmichael is averaging a double-double with 11.0 points and 10.3 rebounds to pace ISU in both categories.
