| Illinois Probable Starters (from last game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-1 |
170 |
So. |
14.6 |
2.5 |
2.8 |
30 pts at MIN 1/30/19 |
| G |
11 |
Ayo Dosunmu |
6-5 |
185 |
Fr. |
13.8 |
4.2 |
3.1 |
Six 20-point games |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
200 |
So. |
4.0 |
3.3 |
1.1 |
17 steals |
| G |
23 |
Aaron Jordan |
6-5 |
210 |
Sr. |
8.4 |
4.9 |
1.5 |
40 made threes |
| F |
15 |
Giorgi Bezhanishvili |
6-9 |
235 |
Fr. |
11.0 |
4.9 |
0.9 |
2.7 OREB/gm in B1G |
| 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 |
Son of NBA vet Adrian |
| F |
2 |
Kipper Nichols |
6-6 |
220 |
r-Jr. |
7.0 |
3.4 |
1.3 |
27 pts vs. MSU 1/22/18 |
| 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 former manager |
| G |
5 |
Tevian Jones |
6-7 |
205 |
Fr. |
4.1 |
1.6 |
0.4 |
10.0 ppg in last three |
| G |
10 |
Andres Feliz |
6-2 |
185 |
Jr. |
7.2 |
2.2 |
2.2 |
11.3 ppg in last three |
| C |
12 |
Adonis De La Rosa |
7-0 |
260 |
Gr. |
3.0 |
1.8 |
0.3 |
5-6 FT vs. Nebraska |
| 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. |
2.1 |
0.7 |
0.2 |
9 blocks in 77 mins. |
| G |
35 |
Samson Oladimeji |
6-4 |
200 |
Jr. |
0.3 |
0.4 |
0.1 |
Walkon in third year |
Career Record: 130-60/.684 (6th year)
At Illinois: 21-33/.389 (2nd year)
Series Notes vs. Michigan State
Record: Michigan State leads 61-59
Streak: Michigan State W-2
Record in Champaign: Illinois leads 38-20
Streak in Champaign: Michigan State W-1
Last Year: #6 MSU 87, ILL 74 (1/22/18 @ILL) // #2 MSU 81, ILL 61 (2/20/18 @MSU)
Underwood vs. Michigan State 0-2
Opening Tips
• Illinois continues its three-game homestand, welcoming No. 9 Michigan State for an "Orange Out" at State Farm Center on Tuesday night (6 p.m. CT, ESPN2).
• Illinois last faced a top 25 opponent on Jan. 26, defeating No. 13 Maryland, 78-67, at Madison Square Garden to record the program's highest-ranked win in the last four seasons.
• Illinois is aiming for its first win at home against a ranked foe since an 84-70 victory over No. 20 Purdue on Jan. 10, 2016. The Illini's last win over a top-10 (AP) team, meanwhile, was a 74-72 victory over No. 1 Indiana at State Farm Center on Feb. 7, 2013 on a Tyler Griffey layup at the buzzer.
• Illinois has played the No. 2-ranked schedule in the nation behind Kansas (kenpom).
• The Illini are 2-1 in their last three games and 3-3 over the last six.
• Illinois has climbed 38 spots in kenpom over the last month from 113th to its current ranking of 75th.
• There is only one team below .500 with a higher kenpom rank than the Illini (Penn State, 71st).
• Illinois checks in at 35th in T-Rank since Jan. 5, standing seventh among Big Ten teams.
• The Illini are committing an average of just 9.5 turnovers over the last four games (10, 9, 9, 10=38).
• After scoring a season-low 60 against Wisconsin on Jan. 23, the Illini are averaging 74.7 points over the last three games (224).
• Illinois' transition game has produced an average of 20.7 points over the last three games (62).
• Illinois is forcing turnovers on 23.1 percent of opponent possessions, leading the Big Ten and ranking 17th nationally in defensive turnover rate (kenpom).
• Illinois currently ranks 78th in defensive adjusted efficiency (kenpom), an improvement of 51 spots over last season's final defensive rating (129).
• Illinois is 7-2 when allowing less than one point per possession (losses are Florida Atlantic and Northwestern).
• Illinois games average 71.9 possessions, ranked 41st nationally (kenpom). Illinois and Iowa (66th) are the only Big Ten teams in the top 150 in tempo.
• Illinois has either led (nine times), been tied (twice), or trailed by two with the ball (once) during the second half in 12 of its 15 losses (exceptions are at Nebraska, vs. Michigan, at Iowa).
• Illinois is 349th in luck (kenpom), ranked fifth-to-last among all Div. I teams.
Orange Out Set for MSU Game
State Farm Center should be a sea of orange when the Illini host No. 9 Michigan State for an Orange Out presented by Gameday Spirit.
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.
All orange apparel until Feb. 5 will be 20 percent off at Gameday Spirit locations on campus and South Neil St.
Flyin' Illini Bobblehead Series Concludes with Nick Anderson
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).
Tuesday's game vs. Michigan State is Nick Anderson bobblehead night. Anderson led the Flyin' Illini in both scoring and rebounding, averaging 18.0 points and 7.9 rebounds. He averaged 20.4 points during the NCAA Tournament, highlighted by a double-double with 24 points and 16 boards in the Elite Eight victory over Syracuse to earn Midwest Regional Most Outstanding Player honors. He also hit one of the most famous shots in school history that season, a 35-foot buzzer beater to take down No. 3 Indiana in Bloomington.
Anderson was a first-round pick in the 1989 NBA Draft, going No. 11 overall to Orlando. He played 13 seasons in the NBA, totaling more than 11,000 points and 4,000 rebounds. Anderson was inducted into the Orlando Magic Hall of Fame in 2014 and is a member of the inaugural class of the Illinois Athletics Hall of Fame.
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. 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 the 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.
Player Trends
• 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 is the only Big Ten team whose top three leading scorers on the season are all underclassmen.
• A different player has led the Illini in scoring and rebounding in each of the last four games.
• After being held to single digits in back-to-back games Jan. 23-26, sophomore Trent Frazier is averaging 20.5 points over the last two games (41).
• Frazier is shooting 52.6 percent from 3-point range over the last three games (10-19), averaging 3.3 makes.
• Frazier recorded a season-high 30 points last Wednesday at Minnesota. It marked his fourth 25+ point game of the season and came within two of his career high.
• Frazier made 10-of-14 from the field against the Gophers after combining to shoot just 28.6 percent the previous three games (10-35).
• Freshman Ayo Dosunmu has been the Illini's leading scorer in seven of the last 10 games, averaging 16.7 points (167) with six 20-point outings while shooting 55.7 percent on twos (49-88) during that stretch.
• 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 2.4 assist/turnover ratio the last five games (22 a-9 to) after posting a 0.5 ratio the previous three games (6 a-11 to).
• Dosunmu is averaging 4.4 assists over the last five games (22) and 1.7 steals the last seven games (12).
• Fellow freshman Giorgi Bezhanishvili is averaging 12.7 points (89) on 55.1 percent shooting (38-69) over the last seven games, scoring in double figures four times with two 20-point performances.
• Bezhanishvili grabbed six offensive rebounds in three-straight games from Jan. 16-23, and now ranks second in the Big Ten with an average of 2.7 offensive boards in league play.
• Freshman Tevian Jones is averaging 10.0 points over the last three games. His total of 28 points in consecutive games Jan. 26-30 equaled his combined 28 points scored through the first 11 games of his career.
• Senior Aaron Jordan is shooting 42.9 percent from 3-point range as an upperclassman (84-196) after shooting 33.3 percent from behind the arc his first two seasons (28-84).
• Jordan is averaging 5.3 rebounds over the last six games (32), and is now tied for the team rebounding lead on the season (4.9 rpg).
• Junior Kipper Nichols tied his season high with 18 points in Saturday's win over Minnesota, snapping a five-game scoreless streak.
• Junior Andres Feliz is shooting 58.3 percent from the field over the last four games (14-24), averaging 10.0 points (40).
Notes from the Last Time Out: Home Win over Nebraska (Feb. 2)
• Illinois showcased the improvement it has made during the season, defeating Nebraska 71-64 at State Farm Center after the Cornhuskers led from start to finish in their 15-point win in the league opener Dec. 2.
• The Illinois offense got off to a strong start, scoring on its first three possessions to jump out to a 7-0 lead. After Nebraska took an 18-13 lead, the Illini responded with a 10-0 run to go ahead 23-18 with 8:47 left in the half. The Illini would not trail the rest of the way.
• Illinois led for the final 29:05 of the game, by at least seven points the entire second half, and as many as 15 (44-29 at 16:57 of second half).
• Illinois' defensive efficiency rating (kenpom) of 92.8 marked its second-best against a Big Ten opponent this season (vs. Minnesota, 90.0 on Jan. 16).
• Illinois held Nebraska to 35.7 percent shooting, the lowest by a Big Ten opponent in the Underwood era.
• Nebraska made just 3-of-23 from 3-point range (13 percent), its lowest 3-point percentage since Nov. 24, 2015 when the Huskers shot 10.5 percent (2-19) vs. Arkansas-Pine Bluff.
• Illinois, meanwhile, shot 40 percent from 3-point range (8-20), its first time in the last five games hitting better than 35 percent behind the arc.
• The Illini depth was evident, owning a 36-4 edge in bench points, with the +32 difference its largest margin in a game this season.
• Junior Kipper Nichols tied his season-high with 18 points to break out of a five-game scoreless slump. He also led the Illini with six rebounds. Nichols made 7-of-8 from the field, the top shooting performance by an Illini this season.
• After being held to his lowest scoring output since Dec. 22 on Wednesday at Minnesota (6 points), freshman Ayo Dosunmu returned to double figures for the eighth time in the last 10 games, finishing with 13 points against the Huskers.
• Five players scored at least eight points, with three in double figures.
» Complete Illinois-Michigan State Notes
