Career Record:Â 157-108/.592Â (8th year)Â Â Â
At Illinois:Â 72-52/.581 (4th year)
Big Ten:Â 26-35/.426
Series Notes vs. Ohio State
Series Record:Â Â Â Illinois leads 104-75
Series Streak:Â Â Â Ohio State W-5
Record at Champaign:Â Â Â Illinois leads 61-26
Series Streak at Champaign:Â Â Â Ohio State W-1
Last Meeting:Â Â Ohio State 75, Illinois 73Â //Â Jan. 3, 2016 at Columbus
Groce vs. Ohio State:Â Â Â 1-5
Opening Tips
• Illinois plays three of its next four games at home, beginning with Thursday night's contest vs. Ohio State.
• This is a return match-up with Ohio State after the Buckeyes outlasted the Illini in Columbus, 75-73, on Jan. 3.
• Ohio State is one of five opponents the Illini face twice in conference play, along with Indiana, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Rutgers.
• 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).
• On the second of two made free throws with 2:26 remaining in overtime of Saturday's win at Minnesota, junior Malcolm Hill became the 47th player in Fighting Illini history to reach the 1,000-point mark. Hill finished with 28 points, equaling his second-highest scoring total in a conference game.
• Illinois outrebounded its first conference opponent on Saturday at Minnesota, 49-to-38. Redshirt freshman Michael Finke led the way with 16 boards, the highest rebounding total by an Illini in the last four seasons.
Elite Company
Junior 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.
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 sixth-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.   40.8 ppg  Buddy Hield (25.9 ppg) & Jordan Woodard (14.9 ppg)    Oklahoma   Â
2.   37.4 ppg   Grayson Allen (20.3 ppg) & Brandon Ingram (17.1 ppg)   DukeÂ
3.   37.1 ppg  Stefan Moody (24.3 ppg) & Sebastian Saiz (12.8 ppg)   MississippiÂ
4.   36.9 ppg  Ben Bentil (20.0 ppg) & Kris Dunn (16.9 ppg)   Providence
5.   36.4 ppg  Andrew Andrews (21.7 ppg) & Dejounte Murray (14.7 ppg)   Washington
6.   36.2 ppg  Malcolm Hill (18.7 ppg) & Kendrick Nunn (17.5 ppg)   Illinois
Nunn and Hill, meanwhile, are one of only two duos among the six major conferences where both players are averaging at least 17 ppg:
1.   37.4 ppg   Grayson Allen (20.3 ppg) & Brandon Ingram (17.1 ppg)   Duke  Â
2.   36.2 ppg  Malcolm Hill (18.7 ppg) & Kendrick Nunn (17.5 ppg)   IllinoisÂ
Last Time Out: Illini 76, Minnesota 71, OTÂ (Jan. 23)
In a game of runs it was the Illini who made the most significant spurt of the night, as the Illini snapped an eight-game road skid by defeating the Gophers in Minneapolis.
Illinois trailed by 10 points early before outscoring Minnesota 21-6 over the last 6:17 of the first half to take a 35-30 lead into intermission. The Gophers came out of the locker room and retook the lead, before a 10-0 spree by the Orange and Blue put the visitors ahead 53-46 with 10 minutes remaining.
Minnesota then seemed to take control of the game, going on a 15-2 run of its own to grab a 60-55 advantage with 1:15 to go. But the Illini scored the final five points of regulation on a Kendrick Nunn 3-pointer and two Malcolm Hill free throws to force overtime.
And it was all Illinois in the extra session. The Illini scored the first 11 points of OT, with seven of those coming from Hill. The end result was 16 unanswered points by the Illini to take control, 71-60, with just 1:45 left, as the Illini improved to 4-1 in overtime games under Coach John Groce.
Malcolm Hill recorded his fourth double-double of the season, scoring a game-high 28 points to go along with 10 rebounds. Maverick Morgan had arguably his best game as an Illini, finishing with 14 points and seven rebounds in a career-high 35 minutes. Kendrick Nunn also scored in double figures with 13, and Michael Finke had a strong game with nine points and career highs of 16 rebounds and four assists.
With Finke, Hill and Morgan combining for 33 boards, the Illini won the rebounding battle for the first time in Big Ten play, controlling the glass by a margin of +11 (49-38). And the Illini also enjoyed a 16-to-8 advantage in points off turnovers.Â
Battling Through Adversity
Six different Illini players have combined to miss a total of 58 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.Â
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.
3-Point Improvement
The Illini have increased their production from behind the arc in recent weeks. Illinois has made an average of 8.9 threes per game over the last 14 games (124), 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 10 contests.
Getting it Done at the Line Again
Illinois ranks second in the Big Ten in free show shooting during league play at 77.8 percent, connecting on 105-of-135. Illinois led the conference in free throw shooting last year as well, making 81 percent in Big Ten games.Â
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.
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 52.6 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):
Percentage of Minutes Played by Newcomers
1.   ILLINOIS  52.6% (2119/4025)
2.   Nebraska  51.4% (2173/4225)
3.   Rutgers  48.6% (1942/4000)
4.   Ohio State  44.6% (1886/4225)
5.   Maryland  44.2% (1780/4025)
The Illini rank fifth in the league, meanwhile, in minutes played by freshmen at 32.9 percent:
Percentage of Minutes Played by Freshmen
1.   Nebraska  37.0% (1563/4225)
2.   Ohio State  36.3% (1533/4225)
3.   Rutgers  34.4% (1374/4000)
4.   Minnesota  33.2% (1345/4050)
5.   ILLINOIS  32.9% (1326/4025)
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 10.2 turnovers. Illinois ranks third in the Big Ten and 11th nationally in fewest turnovers. And Illinois ranks second in the conference with a +3.1 turnover margin (26th in NCAA).Â
Capitalizing Off Turnovers
Over the last 11 games, Illinois has averaged just 9.4 turnovers (103) while the opponent has averaged 13.9 turnovers (153). And the Illini have made the most from those extra opportunities, outscoring the opposition in points off turnovers in nine of the 11 games, and by a combined total of 161-to-108, an advantage of 4.8 points per game.Â
Illini Trends
• Illinois has started 12 different lineups this season.
• Illinois' turnover rate of 14.3 percent ranks fifth nationally.
• Illinois ranks 12th nationally in defensive free throw rate (26.1).
• 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 18.7 points.
• Hill's scoring average is the highest by an Illini since Brian Cook led the Big Ten in scoring in 2003 (20.0 ppg).
• Hill has 14 career games of 20+ points, with 10 this season, including three of the last four games (30 vs. Purdue, 20 at Indiana, 28 at Minnesota).
• Hill is averaging 23.8 points (95) on 50 percent shooting (28-56) over the last four games, compared to 11.7 points (35) on 32.4 percent shooting (11-34) through the first three games of Big Ten play.
• Hill ranks 21st in the NCAA in made free throws (112) and 34th nationally in free throw attempts (137), standing second behind Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes among Big Ten players in each category.
• Hill has seven games this season with at least nine free throw attempts. Over the last four games, he has gotten to the line 45 times – averaging 11.3 attempts per game.Â
• Hill leads the Illini in assists on the season with an average of 3.4 apg (14th in Big Ten), after entering the year with a career average of 1.0 assists.Â
• Junior Kendrick Nunn has scored in double figures in all 14 games he has played in, currently averaging 17.5 points.Â
• Nunn's scoring average would rank fifth 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 70 percent of games on the season.
• Nunn has four games of 20+ points this season, including twice in Big Ten play (23 vs. Michigan, 22 vs. Purdue).
• Nunn, who led the team in 3-pointers last year, has combined for 40 treys over his 14 games. His average of 2.9 made threes per game would rank third in the Big Ten.
• Nunn is averaging 6.1 boards (55) over his last nine games.
Complete Illinois-Ohio State Game Notes (PDF)
