Francis leads Rutgers against No. 16 Illinois

Rutgers Scarlet Knights (8-7, 1-3 Big Ten) at Illinois Fighting Illini (11-3, 2-1 Big Ten)

Champaign, Illinois; Thursday, 8:30 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Rutgers faces No. 16 Illinois after Tariq Francis scored 30 points in Rutgers’ 88-85 overtime victory against the Oregon Ducks.

The Fighting Illini are 7-1 in home games. Illinois averages 9.8 turnovers per game and is 2-0 when it turns the ball over less than its opponents.

The Scarlet Knights are 1-3 in conference play. Rutgers has a 3-7 record against teams above .500.

Illinois averages 87.1 points, 14.6 more per game than the 72.5 Rutgers gives up. Rutgers averages 6.3 made 3-pointers per game this season, 1.6 fewer made shots on average than the 7.9 per game Illinois gives up.

The matchup Thursday is the first meeting of the season between the two teams in conference play.

TOP PERFORMERS: David Mirkovic is averaging 13.1 points and 8.4 rebounds for the Fighting Illini. Keaton Wagler is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

Francis is averaging 14.9 points for the Scarlet Knights. Dylan Grant is averaging 12.4 points over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Fighting Illini: 7-3, averaging 82.9 points, 36.5 rebounds, 15.4 assists, 3.7 steals and 5.7 blocks per game while shooting 47.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 68.8 points per game.

Scarlet Knights: 4-6, averaging 68.3 points, 29.6 rebounds, 9.7 assists, 7.4 steals and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 39.1% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 76.5 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.