Feb. 7, 2015
Illinois is...
...ranked 25th nationally & leads B1G in TO margin (+5.39 pg)
...ranked 30th nationally & 2nd in Big Ten in steals (11.0 spg)
...ranked 34th nationally & leads B1G in 3-pt defense (27.7%)
...3rd in the Big Ten in 3-pt FG made (7.0) in B1G games
...12-5 when scoring 60+ points
...8-0 when shooting more FTs than its opponent
...9-3 when holding opponents under 40% FG shooting
...8-4 when out-scoring opponents in the paint
...6-1 when Chatrice White has 3+ blocks
...6-2 when White leads or shares team lead in scoring
...in its third season under head coach Matt Bollant
Quick Hits
•Illini Head Back Out On the Road: Illinois (12-11, 3-8 B1G) visits Northwestern (16-6, 6-5) Sunday at 1 p.m., starting the Illini's second run of four road games out of five. The Orange and Blue snapped a seven-game skid with an emphatic 95-69 win over Minnesota on Thursday, while the Wildcats have won consecutive games over the Gophers and Indiana.
•Crawford Was Illini's Missing Piece:While Illinois knocked off No. 17 Iowa on Jan. 8 despite Ivory Crawford only playing five minutes before suffering a knee injury, the Fighting Illini clearly missed their leading scorer in the next six games, topping the 60-point mark only once. But in Crawford's second game back after returning, Illinois hung 95 on Minnesota (Feb. 5), its highest point total this season. In 16 games with Crawford in the lineup this season, Illinois is averaging 72.7 ppg. In nearly seven games without her, the Illini average 59.6 ppg.
•Defense Does It For Illinois: The Orange and Blue lead the Big Ten and rank 25th nationally in turnover margin (+5.39 per game), and also rank second in the Big Ten and 30th nationally in steals (11.0 pg). UI ranks 34th nationally and leads the Big Ten in three-point field-goal defense (27.7 percent). And the Illini lead the Big Ten in turnovers forced (21.7 pg), 1.2 turnovers per game more than second-place Northwestern.
•Illinois Turns Defense Into Offense: With that turnover margin of +5.39 per game, the Illini also have out-scored their opponents 468-360 off turnovers for an average edge of 4.7 points per game.
•Foes Can't Find Stroke From Long Range: Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks 34th nationally in three-point field-goal defense (27.7 percent), a marked improvement over last season's 33.7 percent allowed that ranked last in the Big Ten and 278th nationally. 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 limited Purdue, Penn State, Nebraska (twice), Michigan State, Maryland, Northwestern and Minnesota to a combined 34-of-132 (25.8 percent) shooting from beyond the arc. Illinois has limited 11 of its 23 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 16 of its 23 opponents under 70 points, including in 10 of its 12 wins, with a 77-71 triumph over No. 9 Kentucky and a 91-76 victory 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 earned her third Big Ten Freshman of the Week honor on Jan. 12 (also on Dec. 8 & Nov. 24). She ranks 17th in the conference in both scoring (14.8 ppg) and rebounding (6.9 rpg). She has scored in double figures in 21 of Illinois' 23 games and has recorded four double-doubles. White also is sixth in the Big Ten in blocks (2.1 bpg) - ranking 49th nationally - and ninth in offensive rebounds (2.9 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 49 blocks. She needs nine 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 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 drained four treys against USF and a then-career high five against Oklahoma. After two quiet games, she has caught fire again recently, making 10-of-17 (58.8 percent) three-pointers in the last two games, including a career-high six against Minnesota. She is tied for sixth in the Big Ten with 2.4 three-pointers made per game and is sixth in three-point shooting percentage at 40.3 percent, which ranks 44th nationally. She also is fourth in the league in minutes played (36.5 per game). In Big Ten play, she ranks second in minutes (38.8 mpg), fourth in 3-point percentage (43.1) and seventh in treys made (2.5 pg).
•Grant Gets Going: Sophomore forward Jacqui Grant has been a beast on the boards in Big Ten play, ranking 11th in the conference with 8.5 boards per game and raising her season average 1.5 rpg to 7.1 in the last 10 games after it dipped to a season-low 5.6 following the Purdue game on Dec. 28. She has averaged 9.1 boards in the last nine games and 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 nine games, her only double-digit rebounding games this season. She also has scored in double figures in four of the last five games - including a career high-tying 29 against Minnesota on Feb. 5 - averaging 14.4 ppg over that stretch.
•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 8.4 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.3 assists and a team-best 2.9 steals this season, ranking 26th nationally and third in the Big Ten in steals. She also ranks second in the Big Ten in conference games with 3.4 spg. She has 5+ rebounds in 16 games, 2+ assists in 20 games and 2+ steals in 17 games.
•Crawford Comes on Strong: Senior guard Ivory Crawford - who would rank seventh in the Big Ten in scoring (16.1 ppg) if she had played enough games - has scored in double figures in 13 of her last 14 games, including six 20-point performances. She suffered a knee injury after only five minutes against Iowa on Jan. 8 and missed the next six games before returning with 12 points and six rebounds against Wisconsin on Feb. 1. Crawford then nearly recorded only the second triple-double in school history, posting 23 points, 11 assists and eight rebounds against Minnesota on Feb. 5. She averaged 24.3 points per game at Paradise Jam, earning all-tournament honors, and was named to the Big Ten weekly honor roll on Dec. 8 after averaging 18.0 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and 3.0 steals in two wins the previous week.
•New Faces Contribute for Illini: Illinois head coach Matt Bollant played nine players in the season-opener against IPFW and six of them were making their debut in Orange and Blue. Senior transfer Brittany Carter, junior transfer Kyley Simmons, redshirt-freshman Kennedy Cattenhead, and true-freshmen Amarah Coleman, Brooke Kissinger and Chatrice White, all saw their first game action for Illinois against the Mastodons. Through 23 games, that sextet has scored 967 of Illinois' 1,580 points (61.2 percent) and has grabbed 48.1 percent of its rebounds (405 of 842).
•Crawford Starts Season Among 1,000-Point Club: Senior Ivory Crawford became only the 15th player in school history to score 1,000 points with eligibility remaining when she reached the milestone last season. She continues to climb up the list, currently standing 17th with 1,292 points. Crawford needs 31 points to pass Lynnette Robinson (1,322) for 16th place. She also stands seventh in three-pointers attempted (315) and steals (216), tied for eighth in three-pointers made (96) and 14th in offensive rebounds (217).
•Illinois Pounds Gophers: The Illini used a 20-4 run over the final 4:41 to pull away for a 95-69 win over Minnesota on Feb. 5. Illinois held the Gophers to just two field goals in the last 10:54 as UM shot 2-of-20 in that span. Minnesota had pulled within three of Illinois with 10:55 left in the game but went cold from there as the Illini out-scored Minnesota 31-8 from that point. Jacqui Grant led three Illini players who topped the 20-point mark, tying her career high with 29 points, while Ivory Crawford had 23 and Kyley Simmons notched a career-best 22.
Scouting the Wildcats
•Northwestern is 16-6 overall and 6-5 in the Big Ten, in a three-way tie for sixth place in the conference standings with Minnesota and Michigan, but only one game behind the fourth-place tie between Nebraska and Ohio State.
•The Wildcats are No. 49 in the latest NCAA RPI report, jumping three spots after beating Indiana on Thursday. Northwestern's schedule was No. 97 nationally through games of Feb. 1, according to the NCAA's official Nitty Gritty report. They are 7-5 against RPI top-100 teams but 2-5 against top-50 squads, beating Gonzaga and Minnesota, both in Evanston.
•Northwestern has posted one of the best defenses in the Big Ten this season, ranking third in field-goal defense (37.2 percent) and standing fourth in scoring defense (62.3 ppg). But the Wildcats' defense hasn't been as potent in Big Ten play, ranking seventh in scoring defense (69.5 ppg), eighth in field-goal defense (40.8 percent) and 14th in three-point defense (36.5 percent).
•Sunday's game will be a test of strengths as Northwestern ranks 28th nationally and second in the Big Ten in turnover margin (+5.18), and 24th nationally and leads the Big Ten in steals (11.1). The Wildcats also are ninth nationally in assists (17.9 apg) and 12th in blocks (6.0 bpg), 26th in field-goal percentage (44.4), 31st in three-point percentage (36.1) and 32nd in scoring offense (74.7 ppg).
•Northwestern is very balanced, with three players averaging double figures in all games and four in Big Ten games. In conference play, Maggie Lyon leads the 'Cats with 15.5 ppg, Nia Coffey is at 13.7, Christen Inman posts 12.6 ppg and Alex Cohen is averaging 11.1, with Ashley Deary right behind at 9.9 ppg. Coffey also averages 9.9 rebounds per game, ranking eighth in the Big Ten.
•Deary is a big reason for the 'Cats' success, ranking second in the Big Ten and 10th nationally with 3.27 steals per game, standing 35th nationally in assists (5.1 apg) and 47th in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.05). She ranks fourth and second, respectively, in the Big Ten in those categories.
Series History Against Northwestern
Northwestern leads the all-time series with Illinois by a 36-34 margin, thanks to the 'Cats winning five of the last eight meetings after stealing a 68-67 win in Champaign on Jan. 22. The Illini took a 76-74 win in Evanston last season after the teams split the home-and-home series in 2012 and 2013. Oddly enough, in the five meetings between Matt Bollant and Joe McKeown, the road team has won each time. Illinois has won three of the last five meetings in Evanston and 13 of the last 15 dating back to 1997. See page 8 for a complete series history.
Last Meeting With Northwestern
All five Illinois starters scored in double figures for the first time this season but the Fighting Illini went without a field goal for over five minutes near the end of the game as Northwestern pulled out a 68-67 win at State Farm Center on Jan. 22. Brittany Carter led the way with 15 points and Jacqui Grant had her first double-double of the season with 13 points and 12 rebounds.
Chatrice White added 14 points on 5-of-8 shooting, six rebounds and four steals, while Amarah Coleman notched her third double-digit scoring game in the last four with 14 points. She also had seven rebounds, four assists and three steals in a career-high 37 minutes. Kyley Simmons rounded out the five Illini scorers in double figures with 11 points on 3-of-6 three-pointers.
The one-point margin was fitting for a game that featured 10 ties and 12 lead changes, and saw Northwestern lead for 16:49 and the Illini for 15:08. Illinois shot 41 percent (25-of-61) for the game, including 9-of-20 (45 percent) from three-point range. Northwestern shot 39.7 percent (23-of-58) and 7-of-22 (31.8 percent) from the arc. It marked just the second time this season the Illini have lost while out-shooting an opponent from the floor.
