Career Record: 156-106/.595 (8th year)
At Illinois: 71-50/.587 (4th year)
Big Ten: 25-33/.431
Series Notes vs. Nebraska
Series Record: Illinois leads 12-4
Series Streak: Illinois W-1
Record at Champaign: Illinois leads 9-1
Series Streak at Champaign: Illinois W-9
Groce vs. Nebraska: 4-2
Last Year's Meetings:
Nebraska 53, Illinois 43 // Jan. 11, 2015 at Lincoln
Illinois 69, Nebraska 57 // March 4, 2015 at Champaign
Opening Tips
Following an impressive 84-70 home win over No. 20 Purdue on Sunday, Illinois is back in action at State Farm Center following a mid-week bye, hosting Nebraska on Saturday.
The Illini are looking to win consecutive conference games since closing out last year's home schedule with back-to-back victories over Northwestern (86-60, Feb. 25) and Nebraska (69-57, March 4).
Illinois and Nebraska lead the Big Ten with the most minutes played by newcomers this season. Illinois' seven new additions to the roster have accounted for 54.4 percent of minutes played by the Illini, while Nebraska's nine newcomers have totaled 50.5 percent of available minutes for the Huskers.
Illinois is aiming for its 10th consecutive home win over the Cornhuskers. Nebraska was victorious in its first visit to Champaign back in 1921, but the Illini have now won nine straight match-ups in Champaign, including each of the last four seasons since the Huskers joined the Big Ten Conference.
Elite Company
Junior guard Malcolm Hill leads the Fighting Illini in total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots on the season. He is one of just three players nationally to lead his team in all of those categories, joined by LSU's Ben Simmons and Florida A&M's Malcolm Bernard.
3-Point Improvement
The Illini have increased their production from behind the arc in recent weeks. Illinois made an average of 9.1 threes per game over the last 11 games (100), a vast improvement over the average of 6.5 made treys through the first six games. The Illini have hit at least nine treys eight times during this stretch, including five of the last seven contests.
Newcomers Playing Prominent Role
Illinois has seven newcomers who have all factored into the rotation this season in graduate transfers Khalid Lewis and Mike Thorne Jr., junior transfer Alex Austin, redshirt freshman Michael Finke and true freshmen Jalen Coleman-Lands, Aaron Jordan and D.J. Williams. Together they have accounted for nearly 55 percent of the team's minutes played, the highest number in the conference. Illinois is one of only two Big Ten teams with more than half of its minutes coming from newcomers (Nebraska), and one of five teams with more than one-third of its minutes coming from new additions:
Percentage of Minutes Played by Newcomers
1. ILLINOIS 54.4%
2. Nebraska 50.5%
3. Rutgers 49.0%
4. Ohio State 44.9%
5. Maryland 44.2%
6. Minnesota 32.5%
7. Michigan State 32.3%
8. Purdue 30.6%
9. Wisconsin 30.5%
10. Indiana 28.7%
11. Iowa 24.7%
12. Northwestern 24.2%
13. Michigan 21.1%
14. Penn State 20.2%
The Illini rank fourth in the league, meanwhile, in minutes played by freshmen at 33.1 percent:
Percentage of Minutes Played by Freshmen
1. Ohio State 36.4%
2. Nebraska 36.1%
3. Rutgers 34.7%
4. ILLINOIS 33.1%
5. Minnesota 32.5%
Big Two
Juniors Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill are leading the charge for the Illini offensive attack, ranking as the highest-scoring duo in the Big Ten, and third-highest among the six major conferences so far this season:
1. 41.9 ppg Buddy Hield (26.6 ppg) & Jordan Woodard (15.3 ppg) Oklahoma
2. 37.0 ppg Ben Bentil (19.1 ppg) & Kris Dunn (17.9 ppg) Providence
3. 36.9 ppg Kendrick Nunn (18.8 ppg) & Malcolm Hill (18.1 ppg) Illinois
4. 36.7 ppg Grayson Allen (20.3 ppg) & Brandon Ingram (16.4 ppg) Duke
5. 35.6 ppg Andrew Andrews (20.8 ppg) & Dejounte Murray (14.8 ppg) Washington
Nunn and Hill, meanwhile, are the only duo who are both averaging at least 18 points. Here is the ranking of the highest-scoring duos among the six major conferences where both players are averaging at least 17 ppg:
1. 37.0 ppg Ben Bentil (19.1 ppg) & Kris Dunn (17.9 ppg) Providence
2. 36.9 ppg Kendrick Nunn (18.8 ppg) & Malcolm Hill (18.1 ppg) Illinois
3. 34.3 ppg Moses Kingsley (17.3 ppg) & Anthlon Bell (17.0 ppg) Arkansas
Taking Care of the Rock
Illinois has been one of the best teams in the country under Coach John Groce in taking care of the basketball. Last year's team set a school record for fewest turnovers, averaging just 9.9 per game. That broke the previous school mark of 10.4 per game set by Groce's 2014 squad.
This year the Illini are on pace to challenge the school record again this year, currently averaging 9.9 turnovers. Illinois is second in the Big Ten and ranks 10th nationally in fewest turnovers. And Illinois leads the conference with a +3.7 turnover margin (18th in NCAA).
Capitalizing Off Turnovers
Over the last eight games, Illinois has averaged just 8.5 turnovers (68) while the opponent has averaged 14.9 turnovers (119). And the Illini have made the most from those extra opportunities, outscoring the opposition in points off turnovers in seven of the eight games, and by a combined total of 125-to-70, an advantage of 6.9 points per game.
Battling Through Adversity
Six different Illini players have combined to miss a total of 49 games due to injuries and other circumstances so far this season. The only contest where Illinois has had its full roster available (not counting Tracy Abrams) for the entirety of the game was the 72-58 victory over UAB on Nov. 27.
With the list of available players changing from one day to the next, Coach John Groce has used 11 different starting lineups.
On five occasions the Illini have had as few as eight scholarship players available, including each of the first three games to open Big Ten play.
Early in the year the Illini were missing mostly backcourt players. But now the bulk of injuries lie in the frontcourt, with center Mike Thorne Jr. and power forward Leron Black out indefinitely. Since Thorne was injured late in the first half vs. Iowa State on Nov. 28, Illinois has been outrebounded in nine of the last 11 games.
Last Time Out: Illini 84, #20 Purdue 70 (Jan. 10)
Illinois recorded its first win of the season over a ranked opponent with a convincing 84-70 victory over No. 20 Purdue at State Farm Center.
Purdue entered the game leading the country in field goal percentage defense (.350) and ranked No. 1 in defensive efficiency by kenpom.com. But the Illini offense was on fire, shooting a season-high 54.2 percent from the field (26-48) and season-best 52.9 percent from 3-point range (9-17), marking the first time in the last 38 games the Boilermakers allowed an opponent to shoot better than 50 percent.
As usual it was the Illini's big two of junior guards Malcolm Hill and Kendrick Nunn doing most of the damage. Hill scored 30 points – the second-highest total of his career and highest in Big Ten play – on 9-of-15 shooting, which included 2-of-2 from 3-point land, to go along with 10-of-14 at the free throw line. Nunn, meanwhile, racked up 22 points on 8-of-12 from the field with a trio of 3-pointers, and 3-of-3 at the line.
Along with combining for 52 of Illinois' 84 points, they also accounted for 13 of the UI's 25 rebounds, with Hill grabbing a game-high eight boards and Nunn adding five.
Illini Trends
• Illinois' turnover rate of 14.0 percent stands fourth nationally.
• Illinois ranks 23rd nationally in defensive free throw rate (26.8).
• Illinois' offense continues to improve as the season progresses, and the Illini are now ranked 64th nationally in offensive adjusted efficiency (108.7).
• Illinois has started 11 different lineups through 17 games.
Hill & Nunn Notables
• Malcolm Hill is closing in on becoming the 47th player in school history to reach the 1,000-point mark. Hill is currently 63 shy of the milestone (937).
• Hill has scored in double figures in every game this season and currently ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring with an average of 18.1 points.
• Hill has 12 career games of 20+ points, and most recently tallied the second 30-point game of his career with 30 in Sunday's win over Purdue.
• Hill is averaging 7.0 rebounds over the last three games (21).
• Hill ranks 37th in the NCAA in made free throws (87) and 59th nationally in free throw attempts (106), standing second behind Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes among Big Ten players in each category.
• Hill has four games this season with double-digit free throw attempts.
• Hill is currently averaging 3.4 assists this season (14th in Big Ten), after entering the year with a career average of 1.0 assists.
• Hill entered Big Ten play on a tear, averaging 24.3 points (97), 6.3 rebounds (25), 4.0 assists (16), 1.8 blocks (7) and 1.3 steals (5).
• Kendrick Nunn has scored in double figures in all 11 games he has played in, currently averaging 18.8 points.
• Nunn's scoring average would lead the Big Ten, but he is not listed among the conference statistical leaders because he has yet to play in 75 percent of Illinois' games. Nunn has played in 65 percent of games on the season.
• Nunn has four games of 20+ points this season, including twice in three Big Ten games with 23 vs. Michigan and 22 vs. Purdue.
• Nunn, who led the team in 3-pointers last year, has combined for 33 treys over his 11 games. His average of 3.0 made threes per game would rank second in the Big Ten
• Nunn has shot better than 46 percent from the field in eight of his 11 games.
• Nunn grabbed a career-high 11 rebounds vs. Missouri and is averaging 6.7 boards (40) over his last six games.
Complete Illinois-Nebraska Notes (PDF)
