| Illinois Probable Starters (from the previous game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Jaylon Tate |
6-3 |
170 |
Sr. |
4.5 |
1.9 |
4..1 |
1.9 A/TO |
| G |
13 |
Tracy Abrams |
6-2 |
185 |
Gr. |
11.3 |
2.4 |
2.6 |
57.7% 3FG |
| G |
21 |
Malcolm Hill |
6-6 |
225 |
Sr. |
18.8 |
7.5 |
1.8 |
80.4% FT |
| F |
43 |
Michael Finke |
6-10 |
230 |
r-So. |
10.0 |
6.0 |
0.4 |
2.8 OREB/G |
| C |
33 |
Mike Thorne Jr. |
6-11 |
280 |
Gr. |
6.3 |
4.4 |
0.1 |
61.8% FG |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
0 |
D.J. Williams |
6-7 |
210 |
So. |
3.0 |
1.3 |
0.7 |
3 blk |
| G |
3 |
Te'Jon Lucas |
6-0 |
170 |
Fr. |
4.3 |
0.7 |
1.7 |
70.6% FG |
| G |
5 |
Jalen Coleman-Lands |
6-3 |
190 |
So. |
7.4 |
1.9 |
1.3 |
2.1 3FG/G |
| F |
12 |
Leron Black |
6-7 |
220 |
r-So. |
11.5 |
8.0 |
0.8 |
50% FG |
| G |
14 |
Samson Oladimeji |
6-5 |
195 |
Fr. |
0.0 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
2 G |
| G |
23 |
Aaron Jordan |
6-5 |
190 |
So. |
2.3 |
0.9 |
0.4 |
5-12 3FG |
| G |
41 |
Clayton Jones |
6-0 |
170 |
r-Jr. |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
3 G |
| C |
22 |
Maverick Morgan |
6-10 |
245 |
Sr. |
8.1 |
2.9 |
0.6 |
62.8% FG |
| G |
44 |
Alex Austin |
6-4 |
190 |
r-Sr. |
0.7 |
2.0 |
0.0 |
3 OREB |
| Sitting Out |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| F |
2 |
Kipper Nichols |
6-6 |
225 |
r-Fr. |
- |
- |
- |
Out fall semester (transfer) |
| G |
10 |
Drew Cayce |
6-1 |
165 |
So. |
- |
- |
- |
Sitting out season (transfer) |
| F |
45 |
Cameron Liss |
6-6 |
220 |
Jr. |
0.6* |
0.0* |
0.2* |
Redshirting season |
Career Record: 167-120/.582 (9th year)
At Illinois: 82-64/.562 (5th year)
Series Notes vs. VCU
All-Time Series Record: First meeting
Groce vs. VCU All-Time: First meeting
Opening Tips
• Illinois' next win will be the 1,750th in program history. The Illini are the NCAA's 14th-winningest team all-time.
• Illinois plays its third neutral-site contest in a four-game stretch on Saturday afternoon, facing VCU in the Hoophall Miami Invitational at 2 p.m. CT on CBS Sports Network.
• The Illini have five neutral-site games in all during non-conference play, with remaining match-ups against BYU in Chicago on Dec. 17 and Missouri in St. Louis on Dec. 21.
• Illinois is coming off an 88-74 home win over N.C. State on Tuesday, which snapped a three-game skid.
• The Illini have grabbed double-digit offensive rebounds in each of the last three games, totaling 43 offensive boards over this stretch (14.3 avg.)
• Illinois has shot 50 percent or better from the field in four of its five wins.
• Since his return, sophomore Leron Black has averaged 11.5 points and 8.0 rebounds the last four games.
• Senior Malcolm Hill moved into the top 20 on the Illinois career scoring list vs. N.C. State (1,393 pts, T-19th), and enters the VCU game seven away from reaching 1,400-point marker.
• Senior Tracy Abrams is 20 points shy of becoming the 49th player in school history to score 1,000 career points.
Hall of Fame/Miami Notes
• Illinois travels to Miami on Saturday to compete in its third game sponsored by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. On Nov. 18, 1984, the No. 2 Illini opened the season in Springfield, Mass. with an 81-65 victory over No. 5 Oklahoma in the Hall of Fame Tip-Off Classic. And on Dec. 2, 2006, the Illini fell to No. 16 Arizona, 84-72, in Phoenix in the Hall of Fame Challenge.
• The Illini will play at AmericanAirlines Arena for the first time, but four members of the squad – Malcolm Hill, Leron Black, Jaylon Tate and Maverick Morgan – traveled in Miami two years ago when the Illini faced the Hurricanes in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge.
• Darren Hertz is in his second season at Illinois as Special Assistant to the Head Coach. Hertz is a Miami native who was an All-Dade County point guard at Killian High School. Before joining the Illini staff, Hertz spent 19 years at Florida working for former Gators head coach Billy Donovan.
• Illinois has signed four-star recruit Trent Frazier as part of its Class of 2017. Frazier is a high-scoring guard from Wellington High School, located approximately one hour north of Miami.
Illini Team Trends
• Illinois ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 68th in the NCAA in scoring offense, averaging 80.9 ppg. The Illini have scored at least 79 points in all five wins this season.
• The Illini are fourth in the Big Ten and 58th nationally in 3-point field goal percentage at 38.8 percent. Illinois' 69 made threes ranks 28th in the NCAA.
• Illinois has been strong on the offensive glass so far this season, recording double digits in five of eight games – including each of the last three – and averaging 10.6 o-boards per game. Last season Illinois ranked last in the Big Ten with 7.6 offensive rebounds per contest.
• Illinois' total of 43 offensive rebounds over the last three games is its most over a three-game stretch since Jan. 4-12, 2014, when the team grabbed 52 offensive rebounds against Penn State (13), Wisconsin (25) and Northwestern (14).
• Over the last three games, Illinois is averaging 17.7 second-chance points off its offensive rebounds.
• Illinois has shot at least 50 percent in four of eight games, and ranks fourth in the Big Ten in field goal percentage at .470. Illinois is shooting 50.4 percent in six games at State Farm Center (187-371), compared to just 36 percent in two games away from home (41-114).
• Illinois has done an outstanding job taking care of the basketball under Coach John Groce, with each of the last three seasons ranking as the fewest average turnovers in school history (2015-9.9, 2014-10.4, 2016-10.5). It is a sharp contrast to see Illinois currently averaging 14.3 turnovers through eight games this year, with six games in double digits. This is a key area where the Illini look to regain the form of recent Groce-led teams.
Illini Player Trends
• Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy preseason candidate Malcolm Hill ranks fourth in the Big Ten in scoring (18.8 ppg).
• Hill has scored in double figures in six of seven games against D1 opponents, with four outings of 20+ points.
• Hill ranks 20th in the nation by kenpom with an offensive rating of 117.4 (28 percent possessions used).
• Hill's career-high 40 points vs. Northern Kentucky (Nov. 13) is tied for the No. 3 scoring performance in the NCAA so far this season.
• Hill is currently shooting 43.2 percent from 3-point range (19-44) after never topping 39 percent in any of his first three seasons and entering his senior year as a 35 percent career 3-point shooter.
• Hill has made 19 threes in eight games after making 37 treys in 34 games last season.
• Hill continues to be one of the nation's best at getting to the line. He ranks 18th in the NCAA with 45 made free throws. His 56 attempts, meanwhile, rank 24th nationally.
• Hill now ranks fourth all-time at Illinois with 406 career made free throws. Last season he went 193 of 235 from the line, ranking as the second-highest single-season totals for free throws made and attempted.
• Hill is drawing 7.7 fouls per 40 minutes, ranking 42nd nationally.
• Hill's rebounding numbers also have improved. After leading the Illini on the glass last season, he is doing so once again with a career-best average of 7.5 rpg, ranking eighth in the Big Ten.
• Hill is one of three players to rank in the Big Ten's top 10 in both scoring and rebounding, joined by Purdue's Caleb Swanigan and Michigan State's Miles Bridges
• After missing the last two years due to injury, sixth-year senior Tracy Abrams has scored in double figures in five games, ranking third on the team in scoring (11.3 ppg).
• Abrams ranks third in the Big Ten in 3-point field goal percentage, shooting 57.7 percent from 3-point range (15-26) after entering his final season as a 27 percent career 3-point shooter.
• Abrams is shooting 53.4 percent overall, his first season at better than 41 percent from the field.
• Abrams also leads the Illini with a 2.3 assist-to-turnover ratio, his first season with a ratio greater than 2:1.
• Sophomore Leron Black has scored in double figures in three of his four games, ranking second on the team in scoring (11.5 points).
• Black is averaging 9.3 rebounds over the last three games (28).
• Black recorded his second career double-double last week vs. Florida State with 15 points and 11 boards.
• Sophomore Michael Finke scored in double figures in five of the first six games and is the Illini's fourth double-figure scorer (10.0 ppg).
• Finke is averaging 2.8 offensive boards, ranking seventh in the Big Ten.
• Senior Maverick Morgan ranks sixth in the Big Ten in field goal percentage at .628.
• Freshman point guard Te'Jon Lucas has played at least 16 minutes over each of the last three games. He had his best game to date last week vs. Florida State, scoring a season-high 10 points with four assists.
Notes from the Last Time Out: Illini 88, N.C. State 74
• Illinois snapped a three-game skid and won its first ACC/Big Ten Challenge game since 2012.
• It was Illinois' eighth win in the Challenge, one victory behind Minnesota, Purdue and Wisconsin for most all-time by a Big Ten team.
• Illinois recorded a season-high nine steals while forcing N.C. State into a season-high 19 turnovers.
• Illinois reached double figures in offensive rebounds for the third straight game with 11, turning those into a 19-8 advantage in second-chance points.
• The Illini shot 67.9 percent in the second half, making 19-of-28 shots, en route to 56 second-half points. It was the UI's best field goal percentage in a half since shooting 73.9 percent (17-23) after the break vs. Minnesota last season (Feb. 28, 2016).
• Illinois shot 50 percent overall for the fourth time in six home games.
• Malcolm Hill moved into a tie for 19th place on the Illini all-time scoring list with a game-high 22 points, giving him 1,393 points in his career.
• It was Hill's fourth 20+ point game this season and 24th of his career. He also added nine rebounds and four assists, both team highs.
• Tracy Abrams tied his season high with 17 points, his fifth double-figure scoring effort this season and 50th of his career.
• Leron Black came off the bench to score a season-high 15 points for the second straight game.
• Jalen Coleman-Lands had his second double-digit scoring game of the season with 11 points.
» Complete Illinois-VCU Game Notes
