Career Record: 156-107/.593 (8th year)
At Illinois: 71-51/.582 (4th year)
Big Ten: 25-34/.424
Series Notes vs. Indiana
Series Record: Indiana leads 87-86
Series Streak: Indiana W-1
Record at Bloomington: Indiana leads 53-29
Series Streak at Bloomington: Indiana W-3
Last Year's Meeting: Indiana 80, Illinois 74 | Jan. 18, 2015 at Champaign
Groce vs. Indiana: 3-3
Opening Tips
Illinois faces its fourth Top 25 opponent of the season on Tuesday at No. 25/23 Indiana (7 pm ET/6 CT on ESPN). The Illini are 1-2 versus ranked teams this year with the victory coming in their most recent match-up against a ranked foe, an 84-70 home victory over No. 20 Purdue on Jan. 10.
Illinois has won eight of the last 13 games against Indiana, and 16 of the last 25 dating back to Feb. 25, 2003.
Illinois heads to Bloomington looking to snap a seven-game road skid. The Illini's last victory on an opponent's home court was a 59-54 win at Michigan State last season (Feb. 7, 2015).
Freshman Jalen Coleman-Lands will play his first collegiate game in his home state on Tuesday. A native of Indianapolis and graduate of La Lumiere (La Porte, Ind.), Coleman-Lands is the first Fighting Illini recruit from the state of Indiana in the last 30 years.
Junior Malcolm Hill is closing in on becoming the 47th player in Illini history to reach the 1,000-point mark. Hill is currently 46 points shy of the milestone (954).
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.
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 54 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 53.9% (1940/3600)
2. Nebraska 50.9% (1946/3825)
3. Rutgers 49.0% (1765/3600)
4. Ohio State 44.8% (1713/3825)
5. Maryland 44.2% (1590/3600)
The Illini rank fourth in the league, meanwhile, in minutes played by freshmen at 33.3 percent:
Percentage of Minutes Played by Freshmen
1. Nebraska 36.3% (1389/3825)
2. Ohio State 36.2% (1384/3825)
3. Rutgers 34.7% (1250/3600)
4. ILLINOIS 33.3% (1197/3600)
5. Minnesota 33.2% (1205/3625)
3-Point Improvement
The Illini have increased their production from behind the arc in recent weeks. Illinois has made an average of 9.3 threes per game over the last 12 games (111), a vast improvement over the average of 6.5 made treys through the first six games (39). The Illini have hit at least nine treys nine times during this stretch, including seven of the last eight contests.
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 fifth-highest among the six major conferences so far this season. Here is a ranking of the top scoring duos from each of the power six leagues:
1. 41.9 ppg Buddy Hield (26.6 ppg) & Jordan Woodard (15.3 ppg) Oklahoma
2. 37.1 ppg Stefan Moody (24.3 ppg) & Sebastian Saiz (12.8 ppg) Mississippi
T3. 37.0 ppg Grayson Allen (20.2 ppg) & Brandon Ingram (16.8 ppg) Duke
T3. 37.0 ppg Ben Bentil (19.2 ppg) & Kris Dunn (17.8 ppg) Providence
5. 36.6 ppg Kendrick Nunn (18.5 ppg) & Malcolm Hill (18.1 ppg) Illinois
6. 36.4 ppg Andrew Andrews (21.4 ppg) & Dejounte Murray (15.0 ppg) Washington
Nunn and Hill, meanwhile, are the only teammates among the six major conferences who are both averaging at least 18 points per game.
Battling Through Adversity
Six different Illini players have combined to miss a total of 52 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 12 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 season 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 10 of the last 12 games.
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 9.7 turnovers. Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks sixth nationally in fewest turnovers. And Illinois ranks second in the conference with a +3.7 turnover margin (16th in NCAA).
Capitalizing Off Turnovers
Over the last nine games, Illinois has averaged just 8.2 turnovers (74) while the opponent has averaged 14.3 turnovers (129). And the Illini have made the most from those extra opportunities, outscoring the opposition in points off turnovers in eight of the nine games, and by a combined total of 135-to-79, an advantage of 6.2 points per game.
Getting it Done at the Line Again
Illinois leads the Big Ten in free show shooting during league play at 80.7 percent, connecting on 71-of-88. Illinois led the conference in free throw shooting last year as well, making 81 percent in Big Ten games.
The Illini led the entire NCAA in free throw accuracy last season (all games), setting a school record at 79.4 percent to break the previous UI record by five percentage points.
Illini Trends
• Illinois has started 12 different lineups through 18 games.
• Illinois' turnover rate of 13.7 percent ranks second nationally.
• Illinois ranks 23rd nationally in defensive free throw rate (27.1).
• Junior Malcolm 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 the Jan. 10 win over Purdue.
• Hill ranks 40th in the NCAA in made free throws (92) and 51st nationally in free throw attempts (115), standing second behind Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes among Big Ten players in each category.
• Hill has six games this season with at least nine free throw attempts, including each of the last two.
• Hill leads the Illini in assists on the season with an average of 3.6 apg (13th in Big Ten), after entering the year with a career average of 1.0 assists.
• Hill is averaging 23.5 points (47) on 53.6 percent shooting (15-28) over the last two games, compared to 11.7 points (35) on 32.4 percent shooting (11-34) through the first three games of Big Ten play.
• Hill tied his career high with seven assists Saturday vs. Nebraska. That equaled his assist total through the first four conference games.
• Junior Kendrick Nunn has scored in double figures in all 12 games he has played in, currently averaging 18.5 points.
• Nunn's scoring average would rank second in 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 67 percent of games on the season.
• Nunn has four games of 20+ points this season, including twice in Big Ten play with 23 vs. Michigan and 22 vs. Purdue.
• Nunn, who led the team in 3-pointers last year, has combined for 36 treys over his 12 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 12 games.
• Nunn is averaging 6.4 boards (45) over his last seven games.
• Freshman Michael Finke has scored in double figures seven times in the last 11 games. Over that stretch he is averaging 11.8 points (129) and shooting 47.8 percent from 3-point range (22-46).
• Fellow freshman Jalen Coleman-Lands has netted double digits six times in the last eight games. Over that stretch he is averaging 11.8 points (94) and shooting 42.3 percent from behind the arc (22-52).
• Senior Khalid Lewis has totaled 25 assists with just five turnovers over his last six games.
Complete Illinois-Indiana Game Notes (PDF)
