PISCATAWAY – Rutgers (12-11, 2-8) plays its third of three road games over four contests, when it travels to Illinois (11-11, 1-8) for a 7 p.m. (ET) tip-off on Tuesday. The Scarlet Knights will be working to win their second straight over the Fighting Illini, after a 62-59 victory at the RAC in the 2016-17 regular season finale. The Scarlet Knights are 6-0 this season when limiting foes to 59 points or less and 8-1 when shooting a better percentage than their opponents. Illinois is 10-3 at home and 8-1 when shooting a higher percentage than its foes.

Rutgers is 4th nationally in scoring defense (62.0), 12th in FG% defense (39.2), 14th in rebounding (40.30), 17th in offensive rebounding (13.43) and 18th in turnover margin (3.9). The Scarlet Knights, who have the most difficult conference schedule in the Big Ten according to Ken Pom analysis, are among the top three in 11 league stat categories.

The game will be televised live on BTN with Brandon Gaudin calling the action and Seth Davis providing the commentary. On the radio, the contest will be broadcast live on the Rutgers IMG Sports Network, WOR 710 AM in New York and WCTC 1450 AM in New Brunswick. Jerry Recco will serve as play-by-play announcer and Joe Boylan will provide commentary. WRSU (88.7 FM) will also broadcast the game.

The contest will mark the sixth meeting between RU and Illinois dating back to 2005, with the Illini holding a 4-1 advantage, including a 2-0 mark at home. On March 4, Deshawn Freeman hit a three-pointer with 7.6 remaining to help Rutgers overcome a 10-point second half deficit in a 62-59 Senior Day win at the RAC. The Scarlet Knights shot a season-best 84.6 percent (11-of-13) at the charity stripe, out-rebounded the Illini 38-34, and limited the visitors to 35.6 percent (21-of-59) shooting. Freeman had 21 points in the win, while Corey Sanders, who has a 28.0 scoring average in two career games against UI, contributed 17.

Rutgers held Penn State to 17 points below its season scoring average, but was unable to overcome a 31.4 percent (16-of-51) shooting performance in a 60-43 loss to the Nittany Lions Saturday afternoon at the Bryce Jordan Center. Issa Thiam paced RU with 12 points in a game that featured four ties and nine lead changes in the opening half. PSU established a 42-27 rebounding advantage, resulting in a 34-18 disparity in points in the paint and a 12-0 margin in second chance points. The Scarlet Knights entered the game ranked ninth nationally in both rebounding and offensive rebounding, but grabbed only two offensive boards.

Under first-year head coach Brad Underwood, Illinois forced 18 turnovers in a 73-71 home win over Indiana on Wednesday. Leron Black and Trent Frazier both scored 19, as the Illini benefitted 22-11 in points-off-turnovers. Tuesday night's contest signals Illinois' third straight at home in a stretch of five out of six at State Farm Center. The Illini have led during the second half in eight of their 11 losses, including five times in eight Big Ten defeats. Illinois leads the Big Ten in both turnovers forced (18.18) and offensive rebounds-per-game (13.73), to ranks sixth and 12th nationally in those respective categories.

Single game tickets for Rutgers men's basketball home games are available online or by calling the Rutgers Ticket Office at 1-866-445-GORU.

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