Head Coach John Groce
Career Record: 160-115/.582 (8th year)
At Illinois: 75-59/.560 (4th year)
Big Ten: 29-42/.408
Series Notes vs. Penn State
Series Record: Illinois leads 28-13
Series Streak: Illinois W-4
Record at State College: Illinois leads 11-7
Series Streak at State College: Illinois W-1
Last Year's Meeting: Illinois 60, Penn State 58 in Champaign, Ill.
Groce vs. Penn State: 4-0
Opening Tips
• Illini junior Maverick Morgan recorded his first career double-double in Thursday's game at No. 14 Maryland, draining 10-of-13 shots to finish with a career-high 21 points along with a career- and game-high 10 rebounds.
• Illinois defeated Penn State last season in Champaign in the only meeting between the teams, 60-58, on a Malcolm Hill driving layup with 4.5 seconds remaining. Hill scored a game-high 27 points on 10-of-15 shooting.
• 11 of the last 14 games between Illinois and Penn State have been decided by five points or less, including five of the last six contests at the Bryce Jordan Center.
• Illinois is wrapping up the regular season with a rare two-game road trip on the East coast. The Illini traveled directly from College Park to State College on Friday ahead of the early tip-off Sunday at Penn State.
• Looking ahead to next week's Big Ten Tournament, Illinois will open play on Wednesday as either the 11 or 12 seed. With a win at Penn State, the Illini would earn the 11 seed and play 14 Rutgers. If Penn State wins, Illinois would be the 12 seed and play 13 Minnesota.
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.
Hill leads the Illini by average in scoring (18.0 ppg), rebounding (6.4 rpg) and assists (3.4 apg). He is joined by Michigan's Derek Walton as the only Big Ten players to lead their teams in all three categories this season.
Hill is vying to become just the second Fighting Illini player ever to rank first in scoring, rebounding and assists in the same season. The first to accomplish the feat (dating back to the start of assists record keeping in 1974) was Rick Schmidt in 1975. During Schmidt's junior season, he led the Illini with averages of 20.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
Hill, meanwhile, is one of only two players to rank among the Big Ten's top-10 leaders in both scoring (third) and rebounding (10th), along with Michigan State's Denzel Valentine.
Coleman-Lands Named Big Ten Freshman of the Week
Illini newcomer Jalen Coleman-Lands is the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week after his performances last week against Indiana and Minnesota. Coleman-Lands averaged 19.5 points over the two games while shooting a combined 66.7 percent from 3-point range, draining 10 treys in 15 attempts. He led the Illini in scoring against the Hoosiers with 21 points, including five treys, then tallied 18 points in the win over the Golden Gophers, draining another five treys.
Illini Trends
• Illinois has started 14 different lineups this season.
• In 12 of its 13 wins, Illinois has scored more point off turnovers than the opponent.
• Illinois' turnover rate of 14.8 percent ranks 11th nationally, and the Illini rank 22nd in the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game (10.4 avg.).
• Illinois ranks 12th nationally in defensive free throw rate (26.5).
• Only two opponents have shot better than 46 percent from the field against the Illini over the last 11 games.
• Junior Malcolm Hill has scored in double figures in all but two games this season.
• Hill currently ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring with an average of 18.0 points. His average is the highest by an Illini in the last 13 years, since Brian Cook led the Big Ten in scoring in 2003 (20.0 ppg).
• Hill scored his 1,000th career point at Minnesota (Jan. 23), becoming the 47th player in Fighting Illini history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. He now ranks 34th on the all-time UI list with 1,168 points.
• Hill has 19 career games of 20+ points, with 15 this season, including eight of the last 14 games.
• Hill leads the Big Ten and ranks 27th in the NCAA in made free throws (168). He is second in the conference (behind Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes) and 37th nationally in free throw attempts (205).
• Hill has 10 games this season with at least nine free throw attempts.
• Hill has grabbed at least seven rebounds in eight of the last 11 games, reaching double figures four times .
• Hill leads the Illini in assists on the season with an average of 3.4 apg (13th in Big Ten), after entering the year with a career average of 1.0 assists.
• Hill is averaging 4.4 assists over the last seven games (31).
• Junior Kendrick Nunn has scored in double figures in 21 of the 24 games he has played in, averaging 15.9 points (11th in Big Ten).
• Nunn has six games of 20+ points this season, including four times in Big Ten play. He equaled his career scoring high in conference play with 25 points vs. Minnesota last Sunday.
• Nunn has drained 66 three-pointers in his 24 games, surpassing his total of 54 treys in 33 games last year. His current average of 2.8 made threes per game ranks third in the Big Ten.
• Over the last six games, Nunn is shooting 41.7 percent from 3-point range (15-36).
• Freshman Jalen Coleman-Lands leads all Big Ten rookies with 78 made three-pointers this season. Last week against Indiana, Coleman-Lands broke the Illinois season record for 3-pointers by a true freshman (69 by D.J. Richardson in 2010).
• Coleman-Lands is now just seven treys away from the all-time Illini freshman record of 85 set by Cory Bradford in 1999.
• Coleman Lands' 78 three-pointers ranks second among freshmen from the six major conferences, trailing only Kentucky's Jamal Murray (95).
• Coleman-Lands is third on the team in scoring, averaging 10.3 points. The last Illini to average double figures as a freshman was D.J. Richardson in 2010 (10.5 ppg).
• Coleman-Lands has scored at least nine points in seven of the last eight games, with two 20+ point performances, and is averaging 13.1 points over this stretch (118).
• Over those eight games, Coleman-Lands has knocked down 31 treys (3.9 makes per game) on 47 percent shooting from behind the arc (31-66).
• Junior Maverick Morgan ranks fourth in the Big Ten in field goal percentage, shooting 58.7 percent on the season.
• Morgan is averaging 12.0 points (96) and 5.9 rebounds (47) on 61.6 percent shooting (45-73) over the last eight games. He has scored in double figures five times over that stretch and recorded his first career double-double on Thursday at Maryland, finishing with career highs of 21 points and 10 rebounds.
• Freshman D.J. Williams has logged at least 12 minutes in each of the last eight games, combining for 36 points and 19 rebounds on 53.6 percent shooting (15-28).
• Senior point guard Khalid Lewis has combined for 34 assists compared to 11 turnovers over the last nine games, a ratio of 3.1.
• Junior point guard Jaylon Tate has combined for 10 assists with only one turnover over the last two games.
Hill Named Finalist for Jerry West Award
Illini junior Malcolm Hill is one of 10 finalists for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award, presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Joining Hill on the list are Buddy Hield (Oklahoma), Caris LeVert (Michigan), Grayson Allen (Duke), Jalen Jones (Texas A&M), Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia), Sheldon McClellan (Miami), Josh Hart (Villanova), AJ English (Iona) and Julian Jacobs (USC). The list will be narrowed to five in March, with the recipient chosen by West and the Hall of Fame's selection committee. The winner of the Jerry West Award will be presented on April 8 at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show.
Battling Through Adversity
Seven different Illini players have combined to miss a total of 89 games due to injuries and other circumstances so far this season. The only contest where Illinois had this season's full roster available for the entirety of the game was the 72-58 victory over UAB on Nov. 27.
With the list of available players changing often, Coach John Groce has used 14 different starting lineups.
On six occasions the Illini have had as few as eight scholarship players available, including four times in Big Ten play (Michigan, at Ohio State, at Michigan State, at Rutgers).
The Illini are currently without three projected starters with Tracy Abrams, Leron Black and Mike Thorne Jr. all sidelined.
Oh So Close
Illinois has been involved in 11 games this season decided by five points or less, owning a record of 5-6. The Illini enjoyed great success in close games during Groce's first three seasons, entering the year with an 18-6 record in games decided by five or less points. Only six teams from the six major conferences have suffered more close losses than the Illini this season:
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 more than 50 percent of the team's minutes played, the second-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). The Illini rank fifth in the league, meanwhile, in minutes played by freshmen at 32.3 percent. Nebraska leads the conference with freshmen accounting for 37.8 percent of its minutes.
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 season Illinois ranks fourth in the Big Ten and 22nd nationally in fewest turnovers, averaging just 10.4 per game. And Illinois ranks second in the conference with a +2.9 turnover margin (22nd in NCAA).
Getting it Done at the Line Again
Illinois leads the Big Ten in free show shooting during league play at 77.3 percent, connecting on 228-of-295. 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. This year the Illini are shooting 74.1 percent at the line in all games (2nd in B1G, 31st in NCAA).
