Head Coach John Groce
Career Record: 161-116/.581 (8th year)
At Illinois: 76-60/.559 (4th year)
Big Ten: 29-43/.403
Big Ten Tournament: 3-3/.500
Series Notes vs. Iowa
All-Time Series Record: Illinois leads 82-71
Series Record in Big Ten Tournament: Iowa leads 1-0
This Season's Meeting: #5 IOWA 77, ILL 65 (Feb. 7 at Champaign)
Groce vs. Iowa: 1-4
Notes from Wednesday's Big Ten Tournament (BTT) First-Round Victory Over Minnesota
1. Illinois advances to the BTT second round vs. fifth-seeded Iowa. The Illini and Hawkeyes met just once during the regular season, a 77-65 victory by the then-No. 5 Hawkeyes on Feb. 7 in Champaign.
2. No. 20 Iowa marks the eighth ranked opponent on the Illini schedule. Illinois is 1-6 against Top 25 teams this season, recording an 84-70 victory over No. 20 Purdue on Jan. 10 at State Farm Center.
3. Illinois' 33-point margin of victory over Minnesota was the largest by any team in BTT history. It also was the most by the Illini against a Big Ten team since defeating Northwestern by 33 points (70-37) on Jan. 27, 2008.
4. Illinois improves to 10-1 this season – and 27-1 under Coach John Groce – when scoring at least 80 points.
5. Minnesota's 52 points marked the fewest allowed by the Illini defense this season. The Gophers shot just 39.2 percent from the field, the 11th time in the last 13 games that Illinois has held the opponent below 46 percent.
6. Illinois set a BTT record with 14 made 3-pointers. The previous record of 13 was accomplished six times, most recently by Wisconsin in the 2015 BTT championship game. The 2002 Illinois squad also made 13 threes during a quarterfinal win over Minnesota.
7. Illinois' 14 three-pointers also was a season-high, equaling the 14 made treys against South Dakota (Dec. 19).
8. Illinois shot a season-high 53.8 percent from 3-point land (14-26), eclipsing its previous best of 52.9 percent (9-17) in the win over No. 20 Purdue (Jan. 10).
9. Illinois shot 55.2 percent overall (32-58), improving to 8-1 this season when shooting better than 46 percent.
10. Illinois improved to 15-4 all-time in its opening game of the BTT, the best mark of any team.
11. Illinois also improves to 7-2 all-time in the BTT as a double-digit seed.
12. Michael Finke drained a career-high five 3-pointers in seven attempts en route to a game-high 17 points. It marked Finke's third time leading the Illini in scoring this season.
13. It was a breakout game for Finke, who scored his most points against a Big Ten opponent and reached double figures for the first time since Jan. 16 vs. Nebraska (11 points). Finke's five 3-pointers against Minnesota matched his production from behind the arc over his previous 10 games (5-25).
14. Kendrick Nunn had an efficient day with 15 points, despite tying his season-low of just eight field goal attempts. He made 3-of-5 from three and all three of his twos.
15. Nunn enters Thursday's game vs. Iowa just 11 points away from becoming the 48th Fighting Illini player in school history to reach the 1,000-point milestone (989).
16. Malcolm Hill had another tremendous all-around game, with 14 points, team-high six rebounds, three assists and game-high three steals.
17. Hill now has 592 points on the year, six shy of joining the Illini top-10 single-season scoring list. Hill moved up to 30th, meanwhile, on the UI career scoring list with 1,221 points.
18. With eight more points, Hill would become the first Illini player in school history to record 600 points, 200 rebounds and 100 assists in a season.
19. Hill's three steals vs. Minnesota helped him pass Nunn back into the team lead in steals. Hill once again leads the Illini in total points, rebounds, assists, blocked shots and steals, one of just three players nationally to lead his team in all five categories on the season (Ben Simmons, LSU and Malcolm Brogdon, Florida A&M).
20. Hill is now averaging 2.5 steals over the last four games (10).
21. Jalen Coleman-Lands was the fourth Illini to score in double figures, finishing with 13 points. He knocked down 3-of-4 from behind the arc, giving him 82 three-pointers on the year. Coleman-Lands is now just three treys away from the Illini freshman record of 85 triples, set by Cory Bradford in 1999.
22. Coleman-Lands has now made at least three 3-pointers in eight of the last 10 games.
23. Jaylon Tate dished out a game-high four assists. Over the last four games, he has combined for 15 assists with only one turnover in a total of 78 minutes.
24. Illinois once again won the turnover battle, committing just nine while Minnesota had 15. That led to a 19-to-12 UI advantage in points off turnovers. The turnover department continues to be a critical area for the Illini, as Illinois has scored more points off turnovers than the opposition in all but one of its 14 victories, and has won just one game this season when recording more turnovers than the opponent.
Illini Big Ten Tournament Notes
• Illinois has the second-most all-time Big Ten Tournament (BTT) wins with 26.
• The Illini own the third-best all-time BTT winning percentage at .619 (26-16).
• Illinois has won two BTT championships (2003 and 2005), one of five conference schools to win multiple titles.
• Illinois is tied for the second-most BTT championship game appearances, having advanced to the title game six times.
• Illinois has advanced to the BTT semifinals 12 times, tied for the most semifinal appearances of any school.
• Illinois is a double-digit seed in the BTT for the third time. The Illini advanced to the title game in both previous appearances, as the 11 seed in 1999 and the 10 seed in 2008.
• Illinois is 9-10 in BTT games when seeded lower.
• Illinois is 10-9 in the BTT in Indianapolis.
• Thursday marks just the second Illinois-Iowa match-up in the BTT. The first was in 2012, won by the eighth-seeded Hawkeyes over the ninth-seeded Illini, 64-61.
• Illinois' last win over a ranked team in the Big Ten Tournament was a 58-54 victory over No. 13 Wisconsin in the 2010 quarterfinal (March 12, 2010).
• Iowa is one of just two foes that Illinois has faced but not yet beaten in the BTT. The other is Michigan State.
