Jan. 28, 2015
Illinois is...
...ranked 26th nationally & leads B1G in TO margin (+5.4 pg)
...ranked 25th nationally & leads B1G in 3-pt defense (27.0%)
...ranked 36th nationally & 3rd in Big Ten in steals (10.9 spg)
...ranked 63rd nationally in blocked shots (4.4 bpg)
...T-2nd in the Big Ten in 3-pt FG made (6.6) in B1G games
...11-4 when scoring 60+ points
...9-3 when holding opponents under 40% FG shooting
...8-3 when out-scoring opponents in the paint
...6-1 when Chatrice White has 3+ blocks
...6-1 when White leads or shares team lead in scoring
...in its third season under head coach Matt Bollant
Quick Hits
•Illini Finish Road Swing at #15 Nebraska: Illinois (11-9, 2-6 B1G) will try to end a five-game losing streak when it travels to No. 15/19 Nebraska (15-4, 5-3) Thursday at 7 p.m. The losing streak is UI's longest of the season. The game against the Huskers wraps up Illinois' five-game stretch with four on the road, and three of these five opponents are ranked or receiving votes in this week's polls.
•Illini Not Alone on the Road: Illinois is one of four Big Ten schools that has a five-game span with four on the road along with Indiana, Iowa and Purdue. And the Illini have two such stretches this season, also facing four road games in a five-game span from Feb. 8-21. Plus, three of those five teams are ranked or receiving votes in this week's polls. Iowa also has two stretches of four road games in five and they overlap, meaning the Hawkeyes have one segment of the season where they play six road games out of eight (Jan. 29-Feb. 21).
•Crawford is Illini's Missing Piece: While Illinois knocked off No. 17 Iowa on Jan. 8 despite Ivory Crawford only playing nine minutes before suffering a knee injury, the Fighting Illini have clearly missed their leading scorer in the last five games. UI has averaged just 57.4 points per game in its last five contests after posting 71.9 ppg in the season's first 14 games.
•Defense Does It For Illinois: The Orange and Blue lead the Big Ten and rank 26th nationally in turnover margin (+5.4 per game), and also lead the Big Ten and rank 25th nationally in three-point field-goal defense (27.0 percent).UI ranks 36th nationally and third in the Big Ten in steals per game (10.9), and 63rd nationally in blocked shots per game (4.4). The Illini also lead the Big Ten in turnovers forced (22.4 pg), 1.5 turnovers per game more than second-place Northwestern.
•Illinois Turns Defense Into Offense: With that turnover margin of +5.4 per game, the Illini also have out-scored their opponents 419-310 off turnovers for an average edge of 5.5 points per game (21.0-15.5).
•Foes Can't Find Stroke From Long Range: Illinois ranks 25th nationally and leads the Big Ten in three-point field-goal defense (27.0 percent), a marked improvement over last season's 33.7 percent allowed. The Illini held No. 9 Kentucky without a three-pointer on Nov. 27, breaking UK's streak of 367 games with a trey. They also held Purdue, Penn State, Nebraska, Michigan State, Maryland and Northwestern to a combined 22-of-92 (23.9 percent) shooting from beyond the arc. Illinois has limited 11 of its 20 opponents to four or fewer trifectas after 15 of its 30 foes hit six or more triples in 2013-14.
•Teams Face Tough Sledding Versus Illini: Illinois has held 12 of its 20 opponents under 65 points, including in nine of its 11 wins, with a 77-71 triumph over No. 9 Kentucky and a 91-76 win at Penn State the only outliers. The Illini also have held five teams under 20 points in a half this season: Robert Morris (15, 1st half), Southern (15, 2nd), Southern Illinois (15, 1st), Valparaiso (19, 1st) and Murray State (11, 1st).
•White Announces Her Presence with Authority: Chatrice White, who earned her third Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor on Jan. 12 (also on Dec. 8 & Nov. 24), is one of seven Big Ten players to rank in the top 20 in the conference in scoring (17th, 14.8 ppg) and rebounding (16th, 7.0 rpg). She has scored in double figures in 18 of Illinois' 20 games and has recorded four double-doubles. White also is fifth in the Big Ten in blocks (2.3 bpg) - ranking 43rd nationally - and eighth in offensive rebounds (3.0 pg). White tied the UI single-game blocked shots record with seven at No. 8 Maryland (Jan. 18) and currently ranks second among freshmen in Illinois history with 45 blocks. She needs 13 to break Karisma Penn's record from 2009-10. The overall school record is 78 (Penn, 2010-11).
•Simmons Steps Up: Junior guard Kyley Simmons missed her first 10 three-pointers and only scored 12 points in Illinois' first three games before sitting out the Southern game with a shoulder injury. But she returned with a vengeance at Paradise Jam, hitting 11-of-26 three-pointers and scoring 50 points in three games (16.7 ppg). She hit 11-of-12 free throws - including 9-of-10 in the game's final 2:15 - to seal the win over Kentucky, then drained four treys against USF and a career-high five against Oklahoma. Over Illinois' last 16 games, Simmons is averaging 10.3 ppg - including nine double-digit outings - and has hit 40-of-98 three-pointers (40.8 percent). She now stands seventh in the Big Ten with 2.2 three-pointers made per game and is 11th in three-point shooting percentage at 37.8 percent. She also is fourth in the league in minutes played (36.2 per game). In Big Ten play, she ranks second in minutes (38.9 mpg), eighth in treys made (2.3 pg) and 11th in 3-point percentage (38.3).
•Grant Gets Going: Sophomore forward Jacqui Grant has been a beast on the boards in Big Ten play, ranking 11th in the conference with 9.3 boards per game and raising her season average 1.6 rpg to 7.2 in the last seven games after it dipped to a season-low 5.6 following the Purdue game on Dec. 28. She has averaged 10.3 boards in the last six games and has notched consecutive double-doubles - the fourth and fifth of her career - with 13 points and 12 rebounds against Northwestern on Jan. 22, and 17 points and 10 boards at Michigan on Jan. 26. Grant has grabbed double-digit rebounds in four of the last six games, her only double-digit rebounding games this season.
•Carter Makes It All Stick: Senior guard Brittany Carter has proved to be a stat-sheet stuffer after transferring from Ball State during the summer. She is averaging 8.9 points, 5.3 rebounds, 3.3 assists and a team-best 2.8 steals this season, ranking 30th nationally and third in the Big Ten in steals. She also ranks second in the Big Ten in conference games with 3.3 spg. Carter upped the scoring ante of late, averaging 12.0 ppg over the last six, including three double-digit outings. She also has 5+ rebounds in 14 games, 2+ assists in 17 games and 2+ steals in 14 games.
•Illini Fall to Wolverines: Jacqui Grant recorded her second-straight double-double but Illinois shot less than 40 percent from the floor as Michigan took a 70-57 win at Crisler Center on Monday. Grant led the way for Illinois with 17 points and 10 rebounds, and Chatrice White as Illinois' only other player in double digits with 10 points. Brittany Carter had eight points, six assists and four steals. The Illini never got closer than 10 in the game's final 30 minutes.
Scouting the Huskers
•Nebraska is 15-4 on the season and 5-3 in the Big Ten after winning five straight from Jan. 8-22, including a 58-53 victory in Champaign. The Huskers dropped an overtime contest at No. 20 Iowa on Monday, losing 78-72. Nebraska is in a five-team tie for third place in the Big Ten standings, with Wednesday's and Thursday's games serving as the halfway point of the conference season for most of the league.
•The Huskers are No. 29 in the official NCAA RPI, updated Jan. 27, and are 2-3 against RPI top 50 teams with wins over Duke and Washington State, and losses to Maryland, Iowa and Minnesota.
•The Huskers value the ball, ranking 17th in the nation in turnovers per game (12.7) and 15th in defensive rebounds per game (30.1). An assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.15, 27th-best nationally, and a 75.2 team free-throw percentage (21st nationally) also have contributed to Nebraska's strong start. They rank 54th nationally in defensive field-goal percentage (36.6) and third in fouls per game (12.5), but rank 199th in three-point percentage (30.2) and 208th in three-point field-goal defense (31.7 percent).
•Rachel Theriot leads the way for Nebraska, averaging 16.9 points and 5.0 assists per game, ranking fourth in the Big Ten in assists and fifth in scoring. Theriot also leads the Big Ten and ranks second nationally in free-throw percentage (93.7).
•Emily Cady gives the Huskers a strong inside presence, averaging a double-double with 13.1 points and 10.2 rebounds per game. She shoots 52.6 percent and has eight double-doubles on the season.
Series History Against Nebraska
Nebraska and Illinois have played only 10 times in the schools' histories, with the Huskers holding a 7-3 advantage. Nebraska is 3-1 at home and 4-1 in Champaign, while the Illini lead 1-0 in neutral-site meetings. The teams have split the last two meetings in Lincoln, with Illinois notching a 62-52 win at the Devaney Center in 2013 and NU holding off the Illini for a 72-65 win in Pinnacle Bank Arena on Feb. 27, 2014. The Huskers have won six of the last seven in the series.
Last Meeting With Nebraska
Illinois led for most of the game but No. 19 Nebraska scored 15 of the contest's final 19 points to pull out a 58-53 win over the Illini in front of a season-high crowd of 3,263 at State Farm Center on Jan. 11. Freshman Amarah Coleman tied her then-career high with 18 points and Kyley Simmons added 10 in Illinois' first full game without leading scorer Ivory Crawford.
Neither team shot particularly well, with Illinois coming in at 35 percent (21-of-60), including 6-of-20 (30 percent) from long range, and Nebraska hit 36.2 percent (21-of-58) from the field and 2-of-11 (18.2 percent) from downtown. But the Huskers won the game at the free-throw line, making 14-of-22 (63.6 percent), while Illinois was just 5-of-6 from the stripe in the game and only 2-of-2 in the second half.
