Game 2: ILLINOIS (1-0) at Grand Canyon (0-1)
Date	Friday, Nov. 8, 2019 | 8 p.m. CT
Location	Phoenix, AZ | GCU Arena
Tickets	Sold Out
Television	WCIX49 (Champaign/Springfield/Decatur)
Live Stream	ESPN3 | YouTube Live | GCULopes.com
Radio	Fighting Illini Sports Network | Audio | TuneIn
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Printable Notes	Illinois | GCU | Big Ten
2019-20 Stats	Illinois | GCU | Big Ten
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Social Media	@IlliniMBB | #Illini | @IlliniMBB | Facebook | YouTube

Head Coach Brad Underwood

Career Record: 136-66 (.673), 7th year
At Illinois: 27-39 (.409), 3rd year

Series Notes vs. Grand Canyon

Record: Illinois leads 1-0
Record at Phoenix: First meeting
Last Meeting: Illinois 62, GCU 58 | 12/30/17 in Champaign
Underwood vs. GCU: 1-0

Opening Tips

• Illinois is in The Grand Canyon State for a 2-game road trip to wrap up the opening week of the season. The Illini arrived in Phoenix on Wednesday ahead of Friday night's game at Grand Canyon. Illinois then travels to Tucson on Saturday and will face No. 21 Arizona on Sunday night before returning to Champaign. 

• Illinois is one of only two teams from the six major conferences to play two road games in the first week, and one of only three teams to play two of its first three games on the road (details below).

• Andres Feliz had a double-double with 23 points and career-high 11 rebounds to lead the Illini to victory over Nicholls in Tuesday's opener. Feliz has now recorded double-doubles in two of his last three games as an Illini.

• Kofi Cockburn had 10 points and 11 rebounds vs. Nicholls, recording the first double-double by an Illini freshman in a season opener in 37 years (Efrem Winters, 17 pts-10 reb vs. Vanderbilt, Nov. 26, 1982).

• Illinois returns 85% of its scoring from last season, the third-highest percentage among teams from the six major conferences (details below).

Broadcast Information

The Phoenix-market TV broadcast of Friday night's game at Grand Canyon will air on WCIX49 in the Champaign-Springfield-Decatur market. The game will be streamed on ESPN3 via the ESPN app or online at watchespn.com as well. Grand Canyon Athletics also will carry the stream on its website, gculopes.com, on the GCU YouTube channel, and GCU Lopes on Facebook Watch.  

WATCH LINKS: ESPN3 | YouTube Live | GCULopes.com

Colangelo Connects Illini and Lopes

Chicago native and Phoenix icon Jerry Colangelo has strong ties to both the University of Illinois and Grand Canyon University. Before becoming the architect of the Suns and Diamondbacks and directing USA Basketball's return to dominance, Colangelo attended the U of I from 1959-62 and played for the Illini. He was team captain as a senior in 1962 and two-time All-Big Ten honoree. He is a member of the inaugural class of the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame and part of the Honored Jerseys display that hangs from the rafters of State Farm Center. Colangelo has also been affiliated with Grand Canyon for more than a decade, with the university's college of business adorning his name and housing the Jerry Colangelo Museum adjacent to GCU Arena. 

Tough Start

Illinois has scheduled aggressively during Underwood's tenure, and this week is the latest example of that philosophy as the Illini play back-to-back road games at Grand Canyon and at No. 21 Arizona. 

Florida State (at Pitt, at Florida) is the only other team from among the six major conferences to play two road games during the first week of the season, while FSU and Georgia Tech (at N.C. State, at Georgia) join the Illini as the only teams from the six majors playing two of its first three games on the road. The ACC starting the season with conference games has the Seminoles and Yellow Jackets joining Illinois with two early road tests. 

Game 1 Notes: Illini Win Season Opener over Nicholls in OT

• Illinois opened its 115th season of men's basketball on Tuesday night, outlasting Nicholls in OT. The Illini improved to 101-14 (.878) all-time in season openers.

• The Illini are now 35-2 all-time (.945) when starting the season at State Farm Center, which includes an active streak of 23 straight wins when opening the year at SFC.

• Illinois shot 100% from the floor in overtime (3-3) and 85.7% from the free throw line (6-7).

• Illinois outrebounded Nicholls by 30, its largest margin in a game in 13 years, since outperforming Savannah State by 31 on the glass on Nov. 21, 2006.

• Illinois pulled down 53 rebounds, its most in a game since grabbing 54 boards on Dec. 28, 2007 vs. Loyola (MD).

• The Illini's 20 offensive rebounds and offensive rebound rate of 54% were its most since grabbing 27 misses with a 64.3 OR% against Longwood on Dec. 13, 2017.

• The game marked Illinois' first season opener to go to overtime since Nov. 10, 1998, a 75-73 loss to Wake Forest at Madison Square Garden.

• Illinois won its third straight overtime game and improves to 4-4 in OT games in the Underwood era.

• Kofi Cockburn earned the start at center, marking three straight seasons in which a true-freshman has started the Illini's season opener. 

• Cockburn scored 10 points and had 11 rebounds, recording the first double-double by an Illini freshman in a season opener in 37 years, since Efrem Winters had 17 points and 10 rebounds vs. Vanderbilt on Nov. 26, 1982.

• Senior Andres Feliz notched his second career double-double with a team-best 23 points and career-high 11 rebounds. His other double-double of 26 points and 10 boards came vs. Northwestern in the Big Ten Tournament on March 13, meaning he has now had double-doubles in two of his last three games. 

• Cockburn (10 pts-11 reb) and Feliz (23 pts-11 reb) became the first pair of Illini with season-opening double-doubles since Mike Thorne and Malcolm Hill on November 13, 2015 vs. North Florida.

• Sophomore Ayo Dosunmu had his eighth career 20-point game, finishing with 21 points and seven boards. 

• Feliz (23) and Dosunmu (21) became the first duo to score 20+ in the same game for the Illini since Dosunmu (23) and Giorgi Bezhanishvili (20) last season vs. Minnesota (Jan. 16, 2019). 

• Four Illini scored in double figures – Feliz (23), Dosunmu (21), Bezhanishvili (11) and Cockburn (10).

• Two players made their Illini debuts – true freshmen Cockburn and Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk.

Returning Scoring Among Nation's Best

Illinois returns its four leading scorers and eight of its top nine scorers from a year ago. In fact, the Illini return 2,045 of the 2,398 points scored during the 2018-19 campaign, an impressive 85.3%. That percentage tops the Big Ten and ranks third nationally among teams from the six major conferences:

Rk. School Scoring Conference
1. Colorado 95% Pac-12
2. Notre Dame 86% ACC
3. Illinois 85% Big Ten
4. Maryland 81% Big Ten
5. Oklahoma State 78% Big 12

Looking Back at the Last Illini-Grand Canyon Game: Dec. 30, 2017

Illinois rode the hot hands of Leron Black and Trent Frazier, and Da'Monte Williams knocked down a key 3-pointer to help put away Grand Canyon, 62-58, at State Farm Center.

The entire game was played within a margin of two possessions, with both teams excelling on the defensive end and causing problems for each other's offense. 

The Illini trailed by five at halftime and by four with 11 minutes left. Frazier then scored back-to-back baskets to tie it and make the game even tighter the final 9:39. 

Frazier broke a 54-all tie by draining a 3-pointer with 2:17 left as the shot clock expired. Following a GCU layup, the Illini worked the shot clock down again, and this time Frazier found Williams spotting up near the top of the key. Williams drained the 3-pointer with 17 seconds remaining to put the Illini up by four.

Dosunmu on Wooden Award & Naismith Trophy Watch Lists

Preseason accolades have continued to pile in for sophomore guard Ayo Dosunmu. The Chicago native this week was announced on watch lists for the prestigious Wooden Award and Naismith Trophy, which will be awarded at the end of the season to the national player of the year.

Dosunmu had a stellar rookie season with the Fighting Illini, including these highlights:
• Big Ten All-Freshman Team & honorable mention All-Big Ten (coaches & media)
• First true freshman in school history to lead the Illini in scoring for the season (13.8 ppg)
• Recorded the fourth-best scoring average by a freshman in Illini history
• Two-time Big Ten Freshman of the Week (Feb. 11 & Feb. 18)
• 23 games scoring in double figures with seven performances of 20 or more points
• Led team in assists (3.3 apg), second in steals (1.3 spg) and third in rebounds (4.0 rpg)

Here is a list of the honors for Dosunmu entering the 2019-20 season:
• Wooden Award Preseason Top 50 Watch List
• Naismith Trophy Watch List
• Cousy Award Watch List for the nation's top point guard
• Lute Olson Award Watch List
• Third-team All-America by Sporting News, Athlon Sports and Dick Vitale
• Fourth-team All-America by Blue Ribbon Year Book
• First-team All-Big Ten by Blue Ribbon and Athlon
• Preseason All-Big Ten by the conference's media panel

» Complete Illinois-Grand Canyon Notes (PDF)