| Illinois Starters (from last game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-1 |
170 |
Fr. |
12.6 |
1.8 |
3.0 |
Double-figs in 18 of last 20 |
| G |
3 |
Te'Jon Lucas |
6-1 |
180 |
So. |
5.4 |
2.1 |
3.0 |
12 pts, 2-2 3FG vs. PUR |
| G |
24 |
Mark Alstork |
6-5 |
190 |
Gr. |
6.1 |
3.6 |
1.9 |
SH 19 pts at OSU |
| F |
2 |
Kipper Nichols |
6-6 |
225 |
r-So. |
9.4 |
4.3 |
0.7 |
1st in FT% in B1G play (.907) |
| F |
12 |
Leron Black |
6-7 |
230 |
r-Jr. |
15.7 |
5.3 |
0.9 |
24.0 ppg over last 4 games |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| F |
4 |
Matic Vesel |
6-10 |
215 |
Fr. |
0.5 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
Native of Slovenia |
| G |
10 |
Drew Cayce |
6-1 |
175 |
r-So. |
0.5 |
0.5 |
0.0 |
UI walkon |
| F |
11 |
Greg Eboigbodin |
6-9 |
225 |
Fr. |
2.3 |
2.5 |
0.3 |
64.9 FG% in B1G play (24-37) |
| G |
13 |
Mark Smith |
6-4 |
225 |
Fr. |
5.8 |
1.4 |
1.4 |
.796 FT% (43-54) |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
190 |
Fr. |
3.7 |
2.8 |
1.1 |
11 pts, 3-3 3FG vs. PUR |
| G |
23 |
Aaron Jordan |
6-5 |
210 |
Jr. |
7.7 |
3.1 |
0.7 |
4th in B1G in 3FG% (.449) |
| G |
35 |
Samson Oladimeji |
6-4 |
200 |
So. |
0.0 |
0.6 |
0.0 |
UI walkon |
| F |
43 |
Michael Finke |
6-10 |
235 |
r-Jr. |
9.3 |
4.6 |
1.0 |
Ret. vs. PUR after 4 gms out |
| 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: 122-44/.735 (5th year)
At Illinois: 13-17 (1st year)
Big Ten: 3-14
Series Notes vs. Rutgers
Record: Illinois leads 5-1
Streak: Illinois W-1
Record in Piscataway: Tied, 1-1
Streak in Piscataway: Rutgers W-1
Last Meeting: ILL 91, RUT 60 // 1/30/18 at Champaign
Underwood vs. Rutgers: 1-0
Opening Tips
• Illinois will play its fourth game in eight days on Sunday, wrapping up the regular season for the second year in a row at Rutgers (3 p.m. ET, BTN).
• Illinois is forcing turnovers on 22 percent of opponent possessions during Big Ten play, the highest rate recorded by a conference team over the last eight years (Michigan, 22.2, 2010).
• Illinois leads the Big Ten in percentage of minutes played by newcomers (.485) and ranks second in the league behind Nebraska in percentage of points scored by newcomers (.404).
• Illinois has led during the second half in 11 of its 17 losses, including eight times in its 14 Big Ten losses.
• The duo of junior Leron Black and freshman Trent Frazier have combined to score 43.3 percent of Illinois' points during Big Ten play (527 of 1,218).
• Black carries an active four-game streak scoring 20+ points (22.8 ppg), the longest streak by an Illini against Big Ten competition since Brian Cook had five-consecutive 20-point games from March 1-15, 2003.
• During conference play, Frazier leads all Big Ten freshmen in scoring (14.4 ppg), assists (3.7 apg), steals (1.5 spg) and 3-pointers (2.4 avg.).
• Black has been the Illini's leading scorer in each of the last five games and top rebounder in three of the last five games, averaging 22.8 points and 5.0 rebounds while shooting 55.8 percent from the field and 58.8 percent from 3-point range:
Black's Last 5 Games
Penn State – 18 pts, 6-10 FG, 2-3 3FG, 6 rebs
at Indiana – 20 pts, 8-12 FG, 1-1 3FG, 7 rebs
Nebraska – 28 pts*, 11-18 FG, 3-4 3FG, 7 rebs
at Michigan State – 20 pts, 6-12 FG, 1-2 3FG, 2 rebs
Purdue – 28 pts*, 12-25 FG, 3-7 3FG, 3 rebs
Totals – 114 pts, 43-77 FG, 10-17 3FG, 25 rebs
Avg./Pct. – 22.8 ppg, .558 FG%, .588 3FG%, 5.0 rpg
* = career high
• Black has scored at least 12 points in 12 of the last 13 games, averaging 16.7 points (228) on 59.6 percent shooting (93-156).
• Black ranks 10th in the Big Ten in scoring during conference play (16.6), but he is the league's No. 5 scorer in the month of February, averaging 19.4 points (136).
• Frazier is one of just five freshmen nationally leading his team in assists, steals and 3-pointers, along with Trae Young (Oklahoma), Tremont Waters (LSU), Jose Alvarado (Georgia Tech) and RJ Cole (Howard).
• 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 18 of the last 20 games, averaging 16.0 points (319) and 1.9 steals (38) while shooting 39.2 percent from 3-point range (51-130) over that stretch.
• Frazier is averaging 12.6 points on the season, the fourth-best scoring average ever by an Illini freshman and highest in the last 19 years, since Cory Bradford averaged 15.4 points as a redshirt freshman in 1998-99.
Illinois' Big Ten Tournament Scenarios
The Big Ten Tournament will be held next week at New York's Madison Square Garden. Illinois will play in Wednesday's first round and has a seed range of either 12, 13 or 14 entering Sunday's game at Rutgers. Here are the potential scenarios for the Illini:
• If Illinois beats Rutgers on Sunday:
» Illinois is the 12 seed and will play 13 seed Rutgers if Northwestern wins at Iowa on Sunday.
» Illinois is the 13 seed and will play 12 seed Iowa if Iowa wins at home vs. Northwestern on Sunday.
• If Illinois loses to Rutgers on Sunday:
» Illinois is the 14 seed and will play 11 seed Minnesota.
