Getty Illinois guard Ayo Dosunmu.
Both Rutgers and Illinois are in search of a bounce back as they meet up in a Big 10 matchup on Saturday at The RAC.
The game is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. ET and will be televised on the Big Ten Network. If you don’t have cable or don’t have BTN, you can watch a live stream of the game on your computer, phone, Roku, Fire TV Stick, or other streaming device via one of the following cable-free, live-TV streaming services:
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FuboTV
Big Ten Network is one of the 95-plus live TV channels included in the main FuboTV bundle, which comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for FuboTV, you can then watch a live stream of Illinois vs Rutgers on your computer via the FuboTV website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, or other supported device via the FuboTV app.
If you can’t watch live, FuboTV comes with 30 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as a 72-hour look-back feature, which will allow you to watch the game on-demand within three days of its conclusion, even if you don’t record it.
AT&T TV Now
AT&T TV Now (formerly DirecTV Now) offers six different channel bundles. Of those, the “Max,” “Choice,” “Xtra,” and “Ultimate” bundles all include the Big Ten Network, and the “Max” bundle comes with a free seven-day trial:
Once signed up for AT&T TV Now, you can then watch a live stream of Illinois vs Rutgers on your computer via the AT&T TV Now website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, or other compatible streaming device via the AT&T TV app.
If you can’t watch live, AT&T TV Now — no matter what channel package you choose — comes with included cloud DVR.
Hulu With Live TV
Hulu With Live TV comes with Hulu’s extensive on-demand library of TV shows and movies and 60-plus live TV channels, including Big Ten Network:
Once signed up for Hulu With Live TV, you can then watch a live stream of Illinois vs Rutgers on your computer via the Hulu website, or on your phone (Android and iPhone supported), tablet, Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV, Chromecast, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, Echo Show, or other streaming device via the Hulu app.
If you can’t watch live, Hulu With Live TV comes with 50 hours of cloud DVR space, as well as the option to upgrade to “Enhanced Cloud DVR,” which gives you 200 hours of space and the ability to fast-forward through commercials.
Illinois vs Rutgers Preview
Illinois went on a nice run of seven straight victories, but the Fighting Illini have dropped three in a row — all to ranked opponents. The latest was a narrow 70-69 loss to Michigan State at home on Tuesday.
The bigger, long-term concern for the Illini is the health of leading scorer Ayo Dosunmu, who was injured against the Spartans. Head coach Brad Underwood is calling him “day to day” and said Dosunmu will travel with the team, according to Sports Illustrated.
“His status will literally be day to day as long as there is no injury, it’s day to day,” Underwood said. “His main recourse is rehab and massage and (Illinois strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher) and (Illinois athletics trainer) Paul Schmidt and so we’ll deal with that as we get closer to game time.”
Dosunmu was named as one of 30 midseason candidates for the Naismith Trophy Men’s Player of the Year. He’s averaging 15.8 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.3 assists per game.
“We’ve played without him before. That’s all part of the game of basketball is dealing with guys who can’t go,” Underwood said. “We’ll see how that goes (on Saturday) and as he moves forward. His main recourse is rehab and massage and Fletch, Paul Schmidt. We’ll deal with that as we get closer to game time.”
Rutgers hasn’t been on fire either, losing three out of their last four. The more recent of the losses came to Ohio State, 72-66. The Scarlett Knights nearly erased a huge deficit, but were unable to complete the comeback.
“We were down 20, and the last game we’re down 18. I love our fight, we never quit, but you can’t spot really good teams those kind of points,” Rutgers head coach Steve Pikiell said in a post-game radio interview. “I have to give Ohio State credit. They’re talented. At home here they’re a really difficult team to play. We didn’t do a great job against Kaleb Wesson, again. He’s averaging 17 against us, and he got 16. But you can’t spot a team that is that good 15 points in the first half.”
Rutgers is fighting for its tournament hopes and to stay in the mix in the competitive Big 10 standings. The Knights are 8-6 in conference play and a win over an Illinois team that has gone 8-5 against Big 10 foes would go a long way.