| Illinois Probable Starters (from last game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-1 |
170 |
So. |
14.9 |
2.4 |
3.2 |
1.9 spg (2nd in B1G) |
| G |
11 |
Ayo Dosunmu |
6-5 |
185 |
Fr. |
12.9 |
4.5 |
2.9 |
19.7 ppg in last 3 |
| G |
23 |
Aaron Jordan |
6-5 |
210 |
Sr. |
9.5 |
4.9 |
1.6 |
.423 3FG (30-71) |
| F |
2 |
Kipper Nichols |
6-6 |
220 |
r-Jr. |
8.5 |
3.6 |
1.2 |
17 pts at MICH 1/6/18 |
| F |
15 |
Giorgi Bezhanishvili |
6-9 |
235 |
Fr. |
10.1 |
4.8 |
1.1 |
2.3 OREB/gm |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Alan Griffin |
6-5 |
180 |
Fr. |
3.0 |
2.2 |
0.4 |
41.2% 3FG (7-17) |
| 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 |
11 pts vs. Iowa St. |
| G |
5 |
Tevian Jones |
6-7 |
205 |
Fr. |
2.7 |
1.4 |
0.3 |
8 pts, 4 rebs vs UE |
| G |
10 |
Andres Feliz |
6-2 |
185 |
Jr. |
6.8 |
2.1 |
2.3 |
19 pts, 7-11 FG vs. UNLV |
| C |
12 |
Adonis De La Rosa |
7-0 |
260 |
Gr. |
3.3 |
2.5 |
0.2 |
12 pts, 4-6 FG at NW |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
200 |
So. |
4.7 |
3.4 |
1.3 |
10 pts, 8-10 FT at NW |
| 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 |
0.7 |
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: 127-56/.694 (6th year)
At Illinois: 18-29/.383 (2nd year)
Series Notes vs. Michigan
Record: Illinois leads 87-84
Streak: Michigan W-3
Record in Champaign: Illinois leads 56-27
Streak in Champaign: Illinois W-1
Last Year's Meeting: MICH 79, ILL 69 (1/6/18 @MICH)
Underwood vs. Michigan at Illinois: 0-1
Underwood vs. Michigan All-Time: 0-2
Opening Tips
• Illinois hosts No. 2 Michigan in Champaign on Thursday night (7 p.m. CT, FS1), playing its first Big Ten home game after opening league play with four games away from State Farm Center.
• Michigan carries a No. 2 ranking (AP poll) into Thursday's game. Illinois is 6-39 all-time against top-two teams, with three wins apiece over No. 1 and No. 2. All six of those victories occurred in Champaign, the last five at State Farm Center:
Illini All-Time Wins over No. 1
Illinois 74, #1 Indiana 72 (2/7/2013)
#5 Illinois 91, #1 Wake Forest 73 (12/1/2004)
#4 Illinois 57, #1 Michigan State 55 (1/11/1979)
Illini All-Time Wins over No. 2
#6 Illinois 86, #2 Indiana 81 (1/4/1965)
Illinois 110, #2 UCLA 83 (12/4/1964)
#7 Illinois 62, #2 San Francisco 33 (12/17/1956)
• Illinois looks to snap a 13-game skid overall against Top 25 teams, aiming for its first win over a ranked opponent since defeating No. 20 Iowa, 68-66, in the 2016 Big Ten Tournament Second Round (March 10, 2016).
• 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. 5-ranked schedule in the nation (kenpom).
• Illinois has either led (eight times), been tied (once), or trailed by two with the ball (once) during the second half in 10 of its 11 losses.
• Illinois is 351st in luck by kenpom, ranked third-to-last among all Div. I teams.
Illini Player Headlines
• 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).
• Freshman Ayo Dosunmu has been the Illini's leading scorer in each of the last three games, averaging 19.7 points (59) and 5.3 rebounds (16) with a 2.0 assist-to-turnover ratio (8-4) over that stretch.
• Dosunmu has scored in double figures in three straight games for the first time in his career, with 21 points vs. Florida Atlantic, 20 at Indiana and 18 at Northwestern.
• Freshman Giorgi Bezhanishvili is averaging 11.2 points (67) on 51.9 percent shooting (27-52) over the last six games, reaching double figures three times.
• Sophomore Da'Monte Williams is averaging 8.5 points off the bench over the last two games, scoring seven at Indiana followed by 10 at Northwestern.
• Sophomore Trent Frazier is averaging 2.6 steals over the last five games (13). He tied his career high with five steals vs. Florida Atlantic (Dec. 29) and most recently had three on Sunday at Northwestern.
• 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 44.6 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).
• Freshman Alan Griffin has totaled 11 rebounds in 18 minutes of action over the last three games.
Flyin' Illini Bobblehead Series Begins with Kendall Gill
To recognize the 30th anniversary of the 1988-89 Flyin' Illini squad that advanced to the Final Four, Fighting Illini Athletics has created a series of five former Flyin' Illini bobbleheads that will be featured at select home games this season: Kendall Gill (Jan. 10), Marcus Liberty (Jan. 16), Lowell Hamilton (Jan. 23), Kenny Battle (Feb. 2) and Nick Anderson (Feb. 5).
Thursday's game vs. Michigan begins the series, with Kendall Gill bobblehead night. Gill played in 24 games during the 1989 season, missing 12 games with a broken foot. He ranked third on the team in scoring, averaging 15.4 points. He came back strong from the injury, earning NCAA Midwest Regional All-Tournament Team honors while helping lead the Illini to the Final Four in Seattle.
As a senior in 1990, he earned consensus second-team All-America honors, averaging exactly 20 points per game to lead the Big Ten in scoring. Gill was the fifth overall pick of the 1990 NBA Draft by the Charlotte Hornets. He scored 12,914 points during his 15-year NBA career that included stops with seven different teams, for an average of 13.4 points per game.
The entire five-player set is available for $39. Those who purchase the set will receive vouchers for each bobblehead, delivered via email approximately 48 hours prior to each game. The bobbleheads will be available for pick-up at State Farm Center at each respective player's game. For example, ticket holders who purchased a bobblehead for the Michigan game will show their voucher at State Farm Center on Jan. 10 to redeem their bobblehead. If you purchased multiple bobbleheads, the ticket holder will need to come to each game to redeem their vouchers.
Individual bobbleheads can be purchased in advance for $10 each, or on-site inside State Farm Center on game days for $15 each. In addition, each bobblehead will go on sale at GameDay Spirit for $25 the day after each bobble head game.
Bobbleheads must be claimed at the Marketing Table inside the State Farm Center West Lobby gate, or on the upper concourse on the North and South ends of State Farm Center on the designated pickup dates. A game ticket is required for entry to State Farm Center on game days and a voucher is required to get the bobblehead for that day. Bobbleheads will not be shipped.
» Complete Illinois-Michigan Notes
