| Illinois Probable Starters (from last game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-1 |
170 |
So. |
13.9 |
2.5 |
2.9 |
1.8 spg (T-2nd in B1G) |
| G |
11 |
Ayo Dosunmu |
6-5 |
185 |
Fr. |
14.2 |
4.2 |
3.2 |
15.8 ppg in B1G play |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
200 |
So. |
4.2 |
3.4 |
1.2 |
17 steals |
| G |
23 |
Aaron Jordan |
6-5 |
210 |
Sr. |
9.1 |
4.9 |
1.7 |
.419 3FG (39-93) |
| F |
15 |
Giorgi Bezhanishvili |
6-9 |
235 |
Fr. |
11.2 |
5.1 |
1.0 |
20 pts, 8 reb vs. MIN 1/16 |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Alan Griffin |
6-5 |
180 |
Fr. |
2.9 |
1.6 |
0.3 |
8 pts, 2-3 3FG at Iowa |
| F |
2 |
Kipper Nichols |
6-6 |
220 |
r-Jr. |
6.9 |
3.3 |
1.3 |
16 pts vs. MIN 2/4/17 |
| G |
3 |
Drew Cayce |
6-1 |
175 |
r-Jr. |
0.4 |
0.6 |
0.2 |
Walkon in third year |
| F |
4 |
Zach Griffith |
6-6 |
210 |
So. |
0.0 |
0.8 |
0.3 |
Walkon is former manager |
| G |
5 |
Tevian Jones |
6-7 |
205 |
Fr. |
3.8 |
1.5 |
0.3 |
18 pts vs. Maryland on Sat |
| G |
10 |
Andres Feliz |
6-2 |
185 |
Jr. |
7.0 |
2.1 |
2.2 |
15 pts vs. Maryland on Sat |
| C |
12 |
Adonis De La Rosa |
7-0 |
260 |
Gr. |
2.9 |
1.9 |
0.2 |
Grad transfer from Kent St. |
| F |
22 |
Anthony Higgs |
6-8 |
235 |
Fr. |
- |
- |
- |
Won 2 HS state titles in MD |
| G |
32 |
Tyler Underwood |
6-2 |
180 |
r-Jr. |
0.3 |
0.6 |
0.4 |
Son of Coach Underwood |
| C |
34 |
Samba Kane |
7-0 |
220 |
Fr. |
2.3 |
0.8 |
0.2 |
9 blocked shots |
| G |
35 |
Samson Oladimeji |
6-4 |
200 |
Jr. |
0.3 |
0.3 |
0.0 |
Third-year walkon |
Career Record: 129-59/.686 (6th year)
At Illinois: 20-32/.385 (2nd year)
Series Notes vs. Minnesota
Record: Illinois leads 123-67
Streak: Illinois W-1
Record in Minneapolis: Minnesota leads 47-45
Streak in Minneapolis: Minnesota W-1
Last Meeting: ILL 95, MINN 68 | 1/16/19 at Champaign | Box Score
Underwood vs. Minnesota: 1-1
Opening Tips
• Illinois concludes its stretch with three out of four games away from home, facing Minnesota in Minneapolis on Wednesday night (8 p.m. CT, BTN).
• Illinois has won 12 of its last 16 games at Williams Arena dating back to 2000. The Fighting Illini have recorded 45 wins all-time at Minnesota, the UI's second-most road victories against a Big Ten opponent (62 at Northwestern).
• Illinois snapped a 15-game skid against Top 25 opponents the last time out, defeating No. 13 Maryland at Madison Square Garden.
• The Illini head to Minneapolis looking to post league victories away from home in back-to-back games for the first time in 10 years (60-59 win at Northwestern, Feb. 12, 2009 and 65-52 win at Indiana, Feb. 15, 2009).
• Freshman Ayo Dosunmu has been the Illini's leading scorer in seven of the last eight games, averaging 18.5 points (148) with six 20-point outings while shooting 56.9 percent on twos (41-72) during that stretch.
• Fellow freshman Giorgi Bezhanishvili is averaging 14.0 points (98) and 5.6 rebounds (39) on 56.8 percent shooting (42-74) over the last seven games, scoring in double figures five times.
• This is the first time in school history that Illinois has a pair of freshmen serving as its top two leading scorers during conference play (Dosunmu, 15.8 ppg & Bezhanishvili, 13.0 ppg).
• Illinois has played the No. 3-ranked schedule in the nation behind Kansas and Purdue (kenpom).
• Illinois is forcing turnovers on 23.9 percent of opponent possessions, leading the Big Ten and ranking sixth nationally in defensive turnover rate (kenpom).
• Illinois currently ranks 73rd in defensive adjusted efficiency (kenpom), an improvement of 56 spots over last season's final defensive rating (129).
• The Illini's offensive rebound rate of 30.5 percent in conference play ranks fourth in the league (kenpom).
• Illinois has either led (eight times), been tied (twice), or trailed by two with the ball (once) during the second half in 11 of its 14 losses.
• Illinois is 349th in luck (kenpom), ranked fifth-to-last among all Div. I teams.
Ayo Another Fab Frosh
Coach Brad Underwood has a freshman guard excelling in the lineup once again with Ayo Dosunmu grabbing headlines one year after Trent Frazier's outstanding season as a newcomer. Dosunmu leads the Illini in scoring, with his current average of 14.2 points ranking fourth on the Illini's all-time scoring list for freshmen. Dosunmu has already recorded six 20-point games, meanwhile, tied for third on the UI all-time freshman list.
Illini Freshman Scoring Average
1. 15.9 Kiwane Garris, 1994
2. 15.4 Cory Bradford, 1999
3. 15.1 Deon Thomas, 1991
4. 14.2 Ayo Dosunmu, 2019
5. 12.5 Trent Frazier, 2018
Illini Freshman 20-Point Games
1. 8 Cory Bradford, 1999
2. 7 Kiwane Garris, 1994
3t. 6 Ayo Dosunmu, 2019
3t. 6 Deon Thomas, 1991
5. 5 Trent Frazier, 2018
Last Time Out: Illini Defeat No. 13 Maryland in The Garden (Jan. 26)
• The game was part of the fourth annual Big Ten Super Saturday – College Hoops and Hockey doubleheader. The event featured the Illini-Terrapins basketball game followed by a Michigan-Penn State hockey game, both taking place on the same day at Madison Square Garden.
• Illinois earned its first win under Coach Underwood over a Top 25 team, snapping a 15-game skid against ranked opponents that dated back to a 68-66 victory over No. 20 Iowa in the 2016 Big Ten Tournament in Indianapolis (March 10, 2016).
• The win over No. 13 Maryland marked the highest-ranked opponent the Illini have beaten since defeating the No. 11-ranked Terrapins on Jan. 7, 2015.
• Illinois finished the game on a 22-8 run after trailing 59-56 with 6:53 remaining. Illinois outscored the Terps 19-8 over the final 4:57.
• Illinois trailed by as many as 11 points (21-32), recording its biggest comeback win in the last three seasons, since erasing a 12-point deficit in a home victory over Minnesota on Feb. 28, 2016.
• Illinois had its transition game going throughout the afternoon, recording 27 fastbreak points. It marked the most fastbreak points by the Illini in a game since at least the beginning of the 2009-10 season.
• Illinois forced 21 Maryland turnovers (15 in the second half), the most by the Terrapins this season. It was Maryland's first time over 20 turnovers since the Illini forced them into 25 turnovers in Champaign last season (Dec. 3, 2017).
• Illinois had a season-low nine turnovers. The Illini had only one turnover in the first half, its lowest in a half this season (previous low was two in first half vs. Wisconsin the previous game).
• The Illini capitalized on that turnover advantage, outscoring Maryland 27-13 in points off turnovers. Illinois' 27 points off turnovers were its second-most this season and most since 32 in the opener vs. Evansville.
• Freshman Ayo Dosunmu scored a game-high 20 points on 6-of-11 shooting and 7-of-7 from the free-throw line. It marked his sixth 20-point game of the season. Dosunmu also had a game-high six assists.
• Freshman Tevian Jones had career highs in points (18), field goals (6), three-pointers (4), rebounds (4, tied) and minutes (22). Jones had scored 28 points on the season before erupting for 18 against Maryland.
• Junior guard Andres Feliz scored 15 points on 5-of-9 shooting, his highest scoring Big Ten game and third-highest overall (19 vs. UNLV, 16 vs. Evansville). Feliz added a career-high six rebounds and tied his career high with three steals.
• Illinois freshmen combined for 47 points, while Illini newcomers totaled 63 points. The freshmen scored 60.3 percent of Illinois' points, with UI newcomers accounting for 80.8 percent of the scoring.
Orange Out Feb. 5
State Farm Center will be a sea of orange when the Fighting Illini host No. 6 Michigan State on Tuesday, Feb. 5 for an Orange Out presented by Gameday Spirit. Tip time against the Spartans is set for 6 p.m. CT.
The first 1,000 fans to arrive at State Farm Center will receive a free orange Gameday Spirit Orange Out t-shirt. In addition, an orange Illinois basketball t-shirt will be available for just $15 at State Farm Center.
From Jan. 30 through Feb. 5, all orange apparel will be 20 percent off at Gameday Spirit locations on the U of I campus and South Neil St.
Illini Player Trends
• This is the first time in school history that Illinois has two freshmen (Ayo Dosunmu-1 and Giorgi Bezhanishvili-3) among its top three season-leading scorers.
• Illinois has three underclassmen (Fr. Ayo Dosunmu-1, So. Trent Frazier-2, Fr. Giorgi Bezhanishvili-3) ranking as its top three leading scorers for the first time since the 2008-09 season (So. Demetri McCamey-1, So. Mike Davis-2, So. Mike Tisdale-3).
• Illinois is the only Big Ten team whose top three leading scorers on the season are all underclassmen.
• Freshman Ayo Dosunmu recorded at least 20 points four times in five games from Dec. 29-Jan. 16, becoming the first Illini freshman ever to record four 20-point performances over a five-game stretch.
• Dosunmu's 105 points during that five-game stretch was the highest total by a UI freshman in 20 years, since Cory Bradford also scored 105 over five consecutive games as a redshirt freshman from Jan. 30-Feb. 13, 1999.
• Dosunmu was the first Illini freshman, meanwhile, to score in double figures in six straight games since Bradford in 1999.
• Dosunmu has a 2.7 assist/turnover ratio the last three games (16 a-6 to) after posting a 0.5 ratio the previous three games (6 a-11 to).
• Dosunmu is averaging 5.3 assists over the last three games (16) and has grabbed two steals in each of the last five contests.
• Fellow freshman Giorgi Bezhanishvili is averaging 14.4 points (72) and 5.8 rebounds (29) over the last five games, with two 20-point performances.
• Over the last 10 games, meanwhile, Bezhanishvili is averaging 13.0 points (130) on 54.5 percent from the field (55-101), reaching double figures seven times.
• Bezhanishvili grabbed six offensive rebounds in three-straight games from Jan. 16-23, now ranking second in the Big Ten with an average of 3.2 offensive boards in league play.
• Sophomore Trent Frazier scored in double figures in three-straight games prior to the Wisconsin contest, averaging 13.3 points (40).
• Frazier tallied back-to-back 20+ point games for the first time in his career Dec. 15-22, scoring 25 vs. East Tennessee State and netting 28 vs. Missouri.
• Senior Aaron Jordan is shooting 44.1 percent from 3-point range as an upperclassman (83-188) after shooting 33.3 percent from behind the arc his first two seasons (28-84).
• Jordan is averaging 5.5 rebounds over the last four games (22).
• After going five straight games without a free throw attempt, Jordan has combined for 9-9 shooting at the foul line the last two games.
• Junior Andres Feliz is averaging 2.0 steals over the last four games (8).
• Feliz is shooting 53.3 percent from the field over the last two games (8-15).
Pressure D
The Illini defense ranks sixth in the nation in turnover rate, forcing turnovers on 23.9 percent of opponent possessions on the season. Opponents are averaging 17.5 turnovers against the Illini, with the Illini "D" leading the Big Ten and ranking 11th in the NCAA in forced turnovers per game.
Illinois is currently averaging 18.8 points off turnovers, outscoring foes by 3.9 points per game in that category. The high opponent turnover rate has led the Illini to a +3.5 turnover margin, ranking second in the conference and 31st in the NCAA.
» Complete Illinois-Minnesota Game Notes (PDF)
