| Illinois Starters (from last game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-1 |
170 |
Fr. |
12.3 |
1.8 |
2.8 |
Double-figs in 15 of last 17 |
| G |
24 |
Mark Alstork |
6-5 |
190 |
Gr. |
6.3 |
3.8 |
1.9 |
SH 19 pts at OSU |
| G |
23 |
Aaron Jordan |
6-5 |
210 |
Jr. |
8.1 |
3.2 |
0.8 |
2nd in B1G in 3FG% (.465) |
| F |
2 |
Kipper Nichols |
6-6 |
225 |
r-So. |
9.8 |
4.4 |
0.6 |
2nd in FT% in B1G play (.902) |
| F |
12 |
Leron Black |
6-7 |
230 |
r-Jr. |
15.1 |
5.5 |
0.9 |
23 double-figure games |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
3 |
Te'Jon Lucas |
6-1 |
180 |
So. |
5.2 |
2.0 |
3.1 |
1.5 A/TO radio |
| F |
4 |
Matic Vesel |
6-10 |
215 |
Fr. |
0.6 |
0.7 |
0.3 |
Native of Slovenia |
| G |
10 |
Drew Cayce |
6-1 |
175 |
r-So. |
0.6 |
0.6 |
0.0 |
UI walkon |
| F |
11 |
Greg Eboigbodin |
6-9 |
225 |
Fr. |
2.1 |
2.6 |
0.3 |
73.1 FG% in 2018 (19-26) |
| G |
13 |
Mark Smith |
6-4 |
225 |
Fr. |
6.0 |
1.4 |
1.4 |
.820 FT% (41-50) |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
190 |
Fr. |
3.4 |
2.7 |
1.1 |
Son of UI great Frank Williams |
| G |
35 |
Samson Oladimeji |
6-4 |
200 |
So. |
0.0 |
0.7 |
0.0 |
UI walkon |
| F |
43 |
Michael Finke |
6-10 |
235 |
r-Jr. |
9.6 |
4.8 |
1.1 |
Missed last 3 games (inj.) |
| F |
45 |
Cameron Liss |
6-6 |
220 |
r-Jr. |
0.3 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
B1G Distinguished Scholar |
| Sitting Out (*2016-17 Stats listed) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
32 |
Tyler Underwood |
6-1 |
165 |
r-So. |
0.6* |
0.2* |
0.1* |
Sitting out season (transfer) |
| G |
41 |
Clayton Jones |
6-0 |
170 |
r-Sr. |
0.4* |
0.0* |
0.0* |
Recovering from torn ACL |
Career Record: 122-42/.744 (5th year)
At Illinois: 13-15 (1st year)
Big Ten: 3-12
Series Notes vs. Michigan State
Record: Michigan State leads 60-59
Streak: Michigan State W-1
Record in East Lansing: Michigan State leads 37-21
Streak in East Lansing: Michigan State W-1
Last Meeting: #6 MSU 87, ILL 74 (Jan. 22 at Champaign)
Underwood vs. Michigan State: 0-1
Opening Tips
• Following Sunday's home win over Nebraska, Illinois closes out the regular season with three games in six days, beginning with Tuesday night's contest at No. 2 Michigan State (6 p.m. CT, ESPN).
• Illinois is in the middle of back-to-back 1-day preps in league play for the first time in 28 years, since the 1990 squad played at Wisconsin (Jan. 25), at home against Ohio State (Jan. 27), and at Iowa (Jan. 29).
• Illinois is looking for its first road win of the season and its first victory over a top-5 opponent since defeating No. 1 Indiana in Champaign, 74-72, on Tyler Griffey's layup at the buzzer (Feb. 7, 2013). It has been 29 years since Illinois last defeated a Top-5 team on the road, a 70-67 win by Coach Lou Henson's Flyin' Illini at No. 3 Indiana on March 5, 1989, thanks to a Nick Anderson 35-footer at the buzzer.
• Illinois is forcing turnovers on 22.8 percent of opponent possessions during Big Ten play, the highest rate recorded by a conference team over the last nine years (Northwestern, 24.1, 2009).
• Illinois leads the Big Ten in percentage of minutes played by newcomers (.482) and ranks second in the league behind Nebraska in percentage of points scored by newcomers (.399).
• Illinois has led during the second half in 10 of its 15 losses, including seven times in its 12 Big Ten losses.
• Junior Leron Black has been the Illini's leading scorer and rebounder in each of the last three games, averaging 22 points and 7.4 rebounds while shooting 62.5 percent from the field and 75 percent from 3-point range:
• Black has scored at least 12 points in 10 of the last 11 games, averaging 15.2 points (180) on 63 percent shooting (75-119).
• Trent Frazier was named Big Ten Freshman of the Week on Feb. 12 after averaging 19 points, 2.5 rebounds, two steals and 1.5 assists last week against Wisconsin and Penn State. Frazier scored a career-high 32 vs. the Badgers, the most points in the Big Ten by a freshman this season and third-highest total ever by an Illini freshman.
• Frazier has scored in double figures in 16 of the last 18 games, averaging 15.8 points (285) and 1.8 steals (32) while shooting 39.3 percent from 3-point range (44-112) over that stretch.
• Frazier is averaging 12.3 points on the season, most by an Illini freshman in the last 19 years, since Cory Bradford averaged 15.4 points as a redshirt freshman in 1998-99.
• During conference play, Frazier leads all Big Ten freshmen in scoring (14.1 ppg), assists (3.5 apg), steals (1.3 spg) and 3-pointers (2.2 avg.).
• Sophomore Kipper Nichols has scored in double figures in each of the last three games, averaging 13.3 points (40).
