| Illinois Starters (from last game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-1 |
170 |
Fr. |
11.7 |
1.8 |
2.9 |
Double-figs 13 of last 14 |
| G |
24 |
Mark Alstork |
6-5 |
190 |
Gr. |
6.7 |
4.0 |
2.0 |
SH 19 pts at Ohio State |
| F |
2 |
Kipper Nichols |
6-6 |
225 |
r-So. |
9.7 |
4.4 |
0.6 |
16.8 ppg over last 4 |
| F |
12 |
Leron Black |
6-7 |
230 |
r-Jr. |
14.3 |
5.1 |
0.9 |
19 double-figure games |
| F |
43 |
Michael Finke |
6-10 |
235 |
r-Jr. |
9.8 |
4.9 |
1.1 |
Team-high 51 Off. Rebs. |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
3 |
Te'Jon Lucas |
6-1 |
180 |
So. |
5.3 |
2.0 |
3.0 |
21 steals |
| F |
4 |
Matic Vesel |
6-10 |
215 |
Fr. |
0.3 |
0.8 |
0.3 |
Native of Slovenia |
| G |
10 |
Drew Cayce |
6-1 |
175 |
r-So. |
0.6 |
0.6 |
0.0 |
UI walkon |
| F |
11 |
Greg Eboigbodin |
6-9 |
225 |
Fr. |
2.3 |
2.5 |
0.2 |
19-26 FG last 9 gms (.731) |
| G |
13 |
Mark Smith |
6-4 |
225 |
Fr. |
6.5 |
1.5 |
1.4 |
.822 FT% (37-45) |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
190 |
Fr. |
3.9 |
3.0 |
1.1 |
Son of UI great Frank Williams |
| G |
23 |
Aaron Jordan |
6-5 |
210 |
Jr. |
8.6 |
3.1 |
0.8 |
2nd in B1G in 3FG% (.507) |
| G |
35 |
Samson Oladimeji |
6-4 |
200 |
So. |
0.0 |
0.7 |
0.0 |
UI walkon |
| F |
45 |
Cameron Liss |
6-6 |
220 |
r-Jr. |
0.3 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
B1G Distinguished Scholar |
| Sitting Out (*2016-17 Stats listed) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
32 |
Tyler Underwood |
6-1 |
165 |
r-So. |
0.6* |
0.2* |
0.1* |
Sitting out season (transfer) |
| G |
41 |
Clayton Jones |
6-0 |
170 |
r-Sr. |
0.4* |
0.0* |
0.0* |
Recovering from torn ACL |
Career Record: 121-39/.756 (5th year)
At Illinois: 12-12 (1st year)
Big Ten: 2-9
Series Notes vs. Wisconsin
Record: Illinois leads 110-86
Streak: Wisconsin W-12
Record in Champaign: Illinois leads 68-26
Streak in Champaign: Wisconsin W-5
Last Meeting: WIS 75, ILL 50 // Jan. 19 at Madison
Underwood vs. Wisconsin: 0-1
Opening Tip
• Illinois has two games at State Farm Center this week to conclude a stretch of five out of six at home, beginning with Thursday night's match-up against Wisconsin (8 p.m. CT, BTN).
• Illinois is looking to halt the longest Wisconsin win streaks in series history (12) and in Champaign (5). The Illini last defeated the Badgers on Jan. 2, 2011, a 69-61 victory at State Farm Center.
• Illinois leads the Big Ten in percentage of minutes played by newcomers (.485) and ranks second in the league behind Nebraska in percentage of points scored by newcomers (.403).
• Illinois is forcing turnovers on 24.2 percent of opponent possessions during Big Ten play – the highest rate recorded by a conference team over the last 10 years (Purdue, 25.5, 2008).
• Illinois' defense is forcing 22 turnovers per game at home during conference play (110), averaging 25.4 points off opponent turnovers (127). In its last home game, the Illini converted 37 points from Rutgers' 25 turnovers.
• Illinois is shooting 53.5 percent on 2-pointers in league play (228-426), trailing only Ohio State (.576).
• In the Illini's 12 wins this season, no opponent has reached 75 points.
• Illinois has led during the second half in nine of its 12 losses, including six times in nine Big Ten losses.
• Sophomore Kipper Nichols is averaging 16.8 points (67) while shooting 58.3 percent overall (21-36), 47.1 percent from 3-point range (8-17) and 94.4 percent at the free throw line (17-18) over the last four games.
• Freshman Trent Frazier has scored in double figures in 13 of the last 14 games, averaging 15.9 points (223) and 1.8 steals (25) while shooting 39 percent from 3-point range (32-82) over that stretch.
• Frazier is averaging 11.7 points on the season, the highest scoring average by an Illini freshman since Dee Brown averaged 12.0 points in 2002-03.
• During conference play, Frazier leads all Big Ten freshmen in scoring (13.5 ppg), assists (3.9 apg), steals (1.2 spg) and 3-pointers (1.9 avg.).
• Junior Leron Black has scored at least 12 points in six of the last seven games, averaging 14.4 points (101) on 65.7 percent shooting (44-67).
• Senior Mark Alstork scored in double figures in both games last week with 12 in the win over Rutgers and a season-high 19 at Ohio State, combining to average 15.5 points (31) on 55.6 percent shooting (10-18) and 40 percent from 3-point range (4-10).
Forcing Turnovers
Illinois' pressure defense is known for disrupting the opponent. The Illini rank third nationally in defensive turnover rate, forcing turnovers on 24.4 of opponent possessions, which is basically a turnover one of every four times down the floor. The current opponent average of 18.3 turnovers per game ranks third-most in school history for the Illini defense dating back to 1976-77 when turnovers were first tracked as a statistic.
