This was supposed to be the difficult portion of Rutgers’ schedule, the stretch that would challenge the Scarlet Knights and possibly end their NCAA Tournament hopes.

Instead, it has been a breeze. The Scarlet Knights keep facing ranked opponents and overwhelming them. The latest victim was Big Ten co-leader Illinois and All-American big man Kofi Cockburn.

Rutgers looked like the team assured of a high NCAA Tournament seed, dominating on both ends and blistering the No. 12 Illini, 70-59, at Jersey Mike’s Arena to continue a stunning run with its program-record fourth straight win over a top-25 foe.

“It was as good a night as you can have,” coach Steve Pikiell said. “We played hard and we played well. … We had great efforts from everyone.”

Rutgers has won four straight games — over No. 19 Michigan State, No. 18 Ohio State, No. 15 Wisconsin and now Illinois — and seven of nine. Despite a number of bad losses, including setbacks to Lafayette, Northwestern and Massachusetts, the Scarlet Knights (16-9, 10-5) are very much in the NCAA Tournament picture.

They certainly pass the eye test at the moment, after picking up their seventh Quad 1 victory. To show how far the Scarlet Knights have come, they fell to Illinois by 35 points in the first meeting. In the following game, they upset then-No. 1 Purdue at the buzzer, a win that began to flip this season.

Experienced stars Ron Harper Jr. and Geo Baker have been joined by improving teammates Caleb McConnell, Cliff Omoruyi and Paul Mulcahy to form a standout starting lineup that is aiming to lead Rutgers to back-to-back NCAA Tournament berths for the first time since 1975-76.

Baker wasn’t a major actor against Illinois (18-7, 11-4), scoring just seven points, but it didn’t matter. Omoruyi was a monster in the paint, notching 15 points, 13 rebounds and two blocks. Mulcahy was again exceptional as a playmaking forward, with 13 points and seven assists. Harper, who suffered a hand injury late in the win, finished with a team-high 16 points and McConnell had 11 points, seven rebounds and four steals.

“Cliff was awesome tonight, Paul just continues to run our team — Caleb, what did he have? It felt like he had 100 steals, he just takes on that role of being a great defender,” Pikiell said. “I told you guys I like this team [in the preseason], and you’re starting to see that.”

But this game was about force, and how dominant Rutgers was on the defensive end. The Scarlet Knights limited the Illini to 26 percent shooting from 3-point range, outrebounded them 46-38 and held the edge in points in the paint (40-32), fastbreak points (14-2) and second-chance points (16-9). Rutgers led by 23 at one point and never really had to sweat it out down the stretch.

“That’s a team that’s capable of making a good run,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “They’re playing harder than 90 percent of the competition I’ve seen on film.

“We didn’t match the fight until the last five minutes of the game, and I guess that’s on me.”