Terrence Shannon Jr., in his first game back after a judge's ruling allowed him to return to No. 14 Illinois, scored 16 points in an 86-63 win over Rutgers on Sunday.
Shannon came off the bench and played 28 minutes. He had four assists and was 8 of 10 from the free throw line.
He was suspended by the university on December 28 after being arrested on a felony charge of rape for an alleged September incident in Lawrence, Kansas. However, U.S. District Court Judge Colleen Lawless ruled Friday that the university had violated Shannon's civil rights and granted a preliminary injunction requiring Illino犀利士
is to reinstate Shannon to the team.
A preliminary hearing in the criminal case is set for Feb. 23.
Illini fans showed their support for Shannon by applauding when the guard entered the court for pregame warmups and giving him a standing ovation when he entered the game with 17:37 left in the first half.
“Our team feels whole again,” teammate Justin Harmon said after the game. “We have our best player back.”
Illinois coach Brad Underwood said he was pleased with Shannon's performance considering he had not practiced or played with the team for three weeks.
“You could tell he was tired at times,” Underwood said. “He integrated in a nice way. He was pretty solid.”
Shannon's attorneys had sought the injunction earlier this month, alleging that the school had “rushed to judgment” and used an “unfair” process when it decided to suspend Shannon indefinitely late last month after a warrant. A woman at a bar alleged that Shannon had inappropriately touched and sexually assaulted her.
The Illini (14-4, 5-2 Big Ten) went 4-2 in six games without Shannon, who had not played since Illinois' 97-73 win over Missouri in St. Louis on Dec. 22.
Illinois will play next Wednesday at Northwestern.
ESPN's Myron Medcalf and The Associated Press contributed to this report.
