Game 1: ILLINOIS (0-0) vs. Evansville (0-0)
Date	Thursday, Nov. 8, 2018 | 7 p.m. CT
Location	Champaign, Ill. | State Farm Center (15,544) | Fan Guide
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Television	None
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Printable Notes	Illinois | Evansville | Big Ten
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Head Coach Brad Underwood

Career Record: 123-45/.732 (6th year)
At Illinois: 14-18 (2nd year)

Series Notes vs. Evansville

Record: First meeting
Streak: N/A
Record at Champaign: N/A
Streak at Champaign: N/A
Last Meeting: N/A
Underwood vs. Evansville: First meeting

Opening Tips

• Illinois opens its 114th season of men's basketball on Thursday night in Champaign, hosting Evansville. The Fighting Illini have posted an all-time record of 99-14 (.876) in season openers. 

• The Illini are 33-2 all-time (.943) when starting the season at State Farm Center, which includes an active streak of 21 straight wins when opening the year at SFC.

• Illinois is projected to have true-freshmen Ayo Dosunmu and Giorgi Bezhanishvili in the starting lineup, based off starters from the exhibition game vs. Illinois Wesleyan. The last time Illinois had multiple freshmen start a season opener was on Nov. 13, 2015. 

• This marks the first-ever meeting between Illinois and Evansville. The Illini own a 50-7 all-time record against current members of the Missouri Valley Conference.

• Second-year Illinois assistant to the head coach Geoff Alexander previously spent five years as an assistant coach at Evansville from 2013-17, helping lead the Purple Aces to three 20-plus win seasons.

• The Illinois-Evansville contest is a mainland game as part of the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. The Illini will depart for Hawaii next Thursday for three games at the Lahaina Civic Center, beginning with a Nov. 19 match-up against No. 3 Gonzaga. 

Broadcast Information

Thursday's season opener vs. Evansville will be streamed live via BTN Plus. BTN Plus programming consists of non-televised games produced by students at Big Ten universities and is available through either a monthly or annual subscription. Fans can purchase a BTN Plus subscription by visiting BTN2GO.com. 

Returning Illini

The Illini return four players from last year's rotation, highlighted by three of the top five leading scorers on the season. Illinois returns 44.3 percent of its points overall. 

• Dynamic sophomore guard Trent Frazier is the Illini's leading returning scorer. He earned Big Ten All-Freshman accolades after having one of the best rookie seasons in program history. Frazier averaged 12.5 points and 3.1 assists while ranking second in the league with 54 steals. He led all Big Ten freshmen in scoring, assists, steals and 3-pointers for the entire season as well as in league play. 

Known for his scoring sprees, Frazier registered double figures in 20 of the last 24 games with five outings of 20-plus points, highlighted by a career-high 32 points against Wisconsin. 

Frazier followed his strong freshman season with a great offseason and will play a major role in the Illini lineup again this year. 

• Junior Kipper Nichols came on strong during conference play last year, averaging double figures at 10.0 points per game to rank third on the team. He is the Illini's top returning rebounder after grabbing 4.2 rpg. He also ranked third in the Big Ten in free show shooting at 86.2 percent. 

Nichols emerged against No. 6 Michigan State, netting 27 points in just 22 minutes. He then closed out the year in grand fashion at Madison Square Garden, setting the Illini Big Ten Tournament record with a career-high 31 points versus Iowa. 

Nichols' versatility will allow the coaching staff the ability to play him in various positions on the court. 

• Senior Aaron Jordan is the lone four-year U of I player on the roster. He is coming off a breakout season where he ranked third in the Big Ten in 3-point shooting, draining 46.3 percent on the season. After entering the year with a career average of just 2.3 points, Jordan ranked fifth on the team in scoring at 7.9 points per game. He tallied double figures in 11 games with big outings at Wake Forest (20 points) and against Iowa (18 points). 

Jordan sets the standard for the program with his work ethic and is a vocal leader on the court. 

• Sophomore guard Da'Monte Williams saw key minutes as a freshman, despite missing the majority of his senior year of high school and all of the preseason recovering from a torn ACL. He averaged 3.5 points and 2.9 rebounds while appearing in all but one game. 

Williams is now coming off a great offseason of development one year removed from the injury. He will factor into the rotation with his strong understanding of the game and ability to guard on the wing.  

New to the Scene

Illinois is receiving an influx of talent, athleticism, length and versatility with a top-20 ranked recruiting class that features a pair of transfers and six freshmen. 

• Junior Andres Feliz was a first-team All-American last year at Northwest Florida State, averaging 20 points, six assists, and two steals while shooting 61 percent from the field and nearly 42 percent from 3-point range. He was the nation's top-ranked junior college point guard and will bolster an already strong Illini backcourt.

• Illinois sought out to add size to the frontcourt and has done so in a big way with the addition of 7-foot Kent State graduate transfer Adonis De La Rosa. He was one of the top centers in the Mid-American Conference, averaging 11.8 points and 7.6 rebounds last year while shooting 56.4 percent from the field and 78.5 percent at the foul line. De La Rosa is coming off a torn ACL but continues to progress in his rehabilitation efforts. 

• The headliner of the Illini freshman class is Chicago five-star guard Ayo Dosunmu, who averaged 25.2 points, 7.4 rebounds, 7.3 assists and 2.7 steals in leading Morgan Park High School to a second straight state championship. He then helped the U.S. national team win a gold medal at the FIBA America U18 Championships in June. The 6-5 Dosunmu is a playmaker, gifted passer, and competitive defender.

• Tevian Jones is a top-100 recruit from the West Coast who averaged 20.5 points and 9.5 rebounds at Culver City High in California after arriving there as a senior from Chandler, Ariz. Jones is an athletic 6-7 wing who can play a number of different positions on the perimeter.

• Alan Griffin led Archbishop Stepinac to its first-ever New York state Federation championship, averaging 19.2 points, 9.9 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 2.4 steals. The 6-5 guard excels as a 3-point shooter. 

• The Illini have also added promising freshmen in the frontcourt. Giorgi Bezhanishvili spent his senior year at The Patrick School in New Jersey. He took up basketball in Rustavi, Georgia before moving to Austria. Bezhanishvili is a skilled, physical forward who can play in the pinch post and stretch defenses with his outside shooting.

• Samba Kane is a 7-footer from Senegal who attended prep school in Florida. Kane began playing basketball just four years ago but has already made great strides and will continue his development as the mobile center learns the system. 

• Rounding out the rookie class is powerful forward Anthony Higgs, who helped guide Baltimore's Perry Hall to back-to-back state titles. 

» Complete Illinois-Evansville Game Notes