| Illinois Probable Starters (from last game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-1 |
170 |
So. |
15.5 |
2.3 |
3.2 |
1.8 spg (2nd in B1G) |
| G |
11 |
Ayo Dosunmu |
6-5 |
185 |
Fr. |
12.5 |
4.5 |
2.9 |
Leads B1G frosh in steals |
| G |
23 |
Aaron Jordan |
6-5 |
210 |
Sr. |
10.1 |
5.2 |
1.7 |
.423 3FG (30-71) |
| F |
2 |
Kipper Nichols |
6-6 |
220 |
r-Jr. |
8.6 |
3.4 |
1.1 |
18 pts vs. Ohio St 12/5 |
| F |
15 |
Giorgi Bezhanishvili |
6-9 |
235 |
Fr. |
10.3 |
4.9 |
1.2 |
18 pts, 8-10 FG at IND |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Alan Griffin |
6-5 |
180 |
Fr. |
3.3 |
2.3 |
0.4 |
CH 11 pts. vs. Iowa State |
| G |
3 |
Drew Cayce |
6-1 |
175 |
r-Jr. |
0.0 |
0.5 |
0.3 |
Walkon in third year |
| F |
4 |
Zach Griffith |
6-6 |
210 |
So. |
0.0 |
0.5 |
0.5 |
Walkon is former manager |
| G |
5 |
Tevian Jones |
6-7 |
205 |
Fr. |
3.2 |
1.7 |
0.3 |
8 pts, 4 reb vs UE |
| G |
10 |
Andres Feliz |
6-2 |
185 |
Jr. |
7.1 |
2.1 |
2.5 |
19 pts, 7-11 FG vs. UNLV |
| C |
12 |
Adonis De La Rosa |
7-0 |
260 |
Gr. |
2.4 |
2.4 |
0.1 |
Grad transfer from Kent St. |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
200 |
So. |
4.3 |
3.4 |
1.3 |
11 steals |
| F |
22 |
Anthony Higgs |
6-8 |
235 |
Fr. |
- |
- |
- |
Won 2 HS state titles in MD |
| G |
32 |
Tyler Underwood |
6-2 |
180 |
r-Jr. |
0.4 |
0.6 |
0.3 |
Son of Coach Underwood |
| C |
34 |
Samba Kane |
7-0 |
220 |
Fr. |
2.1 |
0.9 |
0.1 |
8 pts, 4-5 FG vs. UNLV |
| G |
35 |
Samson Oladimeji |
6-4 |
200 |
Jr. |
0.5 |
0.3 |
0.0 |
Third-year walkon |
Career Record: 127-55/.698 (6th year)
At Illinois: 18-28/.391 (2nd year)
Series Notes vs. Northwestern
Record: Illinois leads 134-41
Streak: Northwestern W-1
Record in Evanston Illinois leads 54-23
Streak in Evanston: Illinois W-1
Record in All Northwestern Home Games: Illinois leads 62-27
Last Year's Meeting: NU 72, ILL 68 (OT) // Dec. 1, 2017 at Rosemont
Underwood vs. Northwestern: 0-1
Opening Tips
• Illinois faces Northwestern in Evanston on Sunday (12 p.m. CT, BTN), concluding its stretch of four games away from State Farm Center to open Big Ten play.
• The Illini's six home games from the start of the season through Jan. 9 is the second-fewest among teams from the six major conferences, trailing only Oklahoma (5).
• Illinois has played the No. 8-ranked schedule in the nation by kenpom, and the second-toughest schedule among teams from the six major conferences (Oklahoma, 3).
• This is the first time in school history that Illinois has two freshmen (Ayo Dosunmu-2 and Giorgi Bezhanishvili-3) among its top three season-leading scorers.
• Illinois has three underclassmen (So. Trent Frazier-1, Fr. Ayo Dosunmu-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 has either led (seven times), been tied (once), or trailed by two with the ball (once) during the second half in nine of its 10 losses.
Illini Player Trends
• Over each of the last four games the Illini's leading scorer has had at least 20 points.
• Ayo Dosunmu (20) and Giorgi Bezhanishvili (18) combined for 38 points on Thursday night at Indiana. It marked the most points by an Illini freshman duo in a game in the last 25 seasons, since Kiwane Garris (31) and Jerry Hester (9) combined for 39 points in triple overtime vs. Missouri on Dec. 22, 1993.
• Freshman Ayo Dosunmu is averaging 20.5 points (41) and 5.5 rebounds (11) while shooting 47.1 percent from 3-point range (8-17) with a 3.0 assist-to-turnover ratio (6-2) over the last two games.
• Dosunmu has recorded back-to-back 20-point games with 21 vs. Florida Atlantic and 20 at Indiana. He also set his career high with four 3-pointers in both games.
• Sophomore Trent Frazier has scored in double figures in four of the last six games, averaging 19.8 points (99) while shooting 44.2 percent from 3-point land (19-43) and averaging 3.2 treys during this stretch.
• 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.
• Frazier became the first Illini player in the last three seasons to record consecutive games of at least 25 points, since Kendrick Nunn had 27 vs. Western Carolina (Dec. 5, 2015) followed by 28 vs. Yale (Dec. 9, 2015).
• With six 3-pointers each against East Tennessee State and Missouri, Frazier became the first Illini to combine for 12 treys in back-to-back games since Brandon Paul in 2012 (eight vs. Ohio State, Jan. 10, 2012 & four vs. Penn State, Jan. 19, 2012).
• Frazier is averaging 2.5 steals over the last four games (10). He tied his career high with five steals Saturday vs. Florida Atlantic (Dec. 29).
• Freshman Giorgi Bezhanishvili is averaging 11.8 points (59) on 53.5 percent shooting (23-43) over the last five games, reaching double figures three times.
• Senior Aaron Jordan averaged 15.0 points (30) and 5.0 rebounds (10) while shooting 62.5 percent from 3-point range (5-8) over a two-game stretch from Dec. 22-29 prior to Indiana game.
• Jordan's streak of 11 straight games with a 3-pointer was snapped against Indiana.
• Jordan is shooting 44.6 percent from 3-point range as an upperclassman (74-166) after shooting 33.3 percent from behind the arc his first two seasons (28-84).
• Jordan is averaging 6.2 rebounds over the last five games (31).
• Junior Andres Feliz is shooting 51.5 percent from the field over the last four games (17-33).
• Freshman Alan Griffin has totaled 10 rebounds in 15 minutes of action over the last two games.
» Complete Illinois-Northwestern Game Notes (PDF)
