#19/19 ILLINOIS (15-5, 7-2) vs. Minnesota (11-9, 5-5)
Date	Thursday, Jan. 30, 2020 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Location	Champaign, Ill. | State Farm Center (15,544) | Fan Guide
Tickets	Buy Online | Virtual Seating Map
Promotions	Pride Night
Television	FS1 (Jeff Levering & Stephen Bardo)
Live Stream	FoxSports.com & Fox Sports App
Radio	Fighting Illini Sports Network | Audio | TuneIn  | XM 381, Streaming 971
Live Stats	FightingIllini.com
Printable Notes	Illinois | Minnesota | Big Ten
2019-20 Stats	Illinois | Minnesota | Big Ten
Pregame Press Conf.	Coach Underwood (Jan. 29)
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Social Media	@IlliniMBB | #Illini | @IlliniMBB | Facebook | YouTube

Head Coach Brad Underwood

Career Record: 150-71 (.679), 7th year
At Illinois: 41-44 (.482), 3rd year
Big Ten: 18-29 (.383)

Series Notes vs. Minnesota

Record: Illinois leads 123-68
Streak: Minnesota W-1
Record at Champaign: Illinois leads 72-19
Streak at Champaign: Illinois W-1
Last Year's Meetings: ILL 95, MINN 68 (1/16/19 @ILL) // MINN 86, ILL 75 (1/30/19 @MINN)
Underwood vs. Minnesota: 1-2

Opening Tips

• Carrying the Big Ten's longest active winning streak at six games – No. 19 Illinois returns to State Farm Center on Thursday night, hosting Minnesota (6:30 p.m. CT, FS1).

• Illinois owns its longest conference winning streak in 15 years, since setting a school record with 25 consecutive Big Ten victories spanning the 2004 and 2005 seasons (Jan. 31, 2004-March 3, 2005).

• Illinois is off to its best nine-game start in the Big Ten (7-2) since starting 15-0 in 2005.

• Illinois is five games above .500 in Big Ten play, meanwhile, for the first time since Feb. 26, 2010 (10-5). 

• During its current six-game win streak, Illinois' defense is allowing an average of just 58.8 points (353), 37.8% shooting (131-347), 30.9% 3-point shooting (30-99) and just 5.0 made threes per game.

• Ayo Dosunmu is averaging 19.2 points (96) and 5.4 assists (27) over the last five games.

• Illinois has just one loss at State Farm Center this season and enters the Minnesota game looking to improve to 12-1 at home for the first time since 2014-15. 

• Illinois has opened league play with four home wins for the first time since 2009, when it won its first six.

• Illinois has surpassed last year's win total by three games and has matched last seasons's B1G win total.

• The Illini are currently tied with West Virginia for the largest turnaround this season among schools from the six major conferences (+9.5), and are tied for fifth in all of Div. I for most improved teams.

• Illinois leads the Big Ten in scoring defense during league play, allowing 61.1 ppg. The Illini rank second in both field goal percentage defense (.385) and 3-point percentage defense (.282) in conference games.

• Illinois is currently No. 21 in kenpom (adjusted efficiency margin), its highest ranking since finishing the 2011 season at No. 18. 

• Illinois is ranked for the third straight week in the Associated Press poll, checking in at No. 19. This is Illinois' first time in the Top 20 and highest ranking since standing at No. 12 the week of Jan. 7-13, 2013.

• Illinois has won its last three road games, ending lengthy streaks in each of those cities. On Jan. 8, the Fighting Illini earned a win at Wisconsin for the first time in 10 seasons. Last Tuesday, the Orange and Blue notched a victory at Purdue for the first time in 11 seasons. And on Saturday, the Illini recorded the program's first win at Michigan in 10 seasons.

• Illinois is only the second team in the last 27 years to win at Wisconsin, at Purdue, and at Michigan in the same season, joining the 2004-05 Fighting Illini.

• Illinois has now won three straight Big Ten road games for the first time since Feb. 7-26, 2017. 

• Illinois' defense has allowed an average of just 61.0 points on 39.3% shooting and 31.6% from 3-point range over the last 12 games, helping the Illini to a 9-3 record during that stretch.

• Illinois is averaging just 9.4 turnovers over the last eight games, tallying single digits in six of those contests while going 7-1.

• Illinois currently has four Quad 1 wins – three of those coming on the road. The Illini's home wins over Michigan and Purdue, meanwhile, have slipped from Quad 1 to Quad 2 over the last week.  

• Five of Illinois' next six games are Quad 1 contests, while nine of Illinois' remaining 11 regular season games are either Quad 1 (7) or Quad 2 (2). 

• Illinois ranks third in the NCAA in rebound margin (+9.8), trailing only Houston and West Virginia.

• Illinois has outrebounded its opponent in 14 of 20 games, and 10 times by double digits.

• Illinois ranks ninth nationally in offensive rebound percentage (37.0%) and is scoring 12.0 second-chance points per game.  

• Illinois is second in the Big Ten and 44th in the NCAA in field goal shooting at 46.5%. 

• The Illini are 14-1 this season, and 34-3 in the Underwood era, when shooting better than the opponent.

• Illinois has made 41 more free throws than its opponents have attempted on the season, and are currently outscoring foes by an average of 6.3 points per game at the foul line.

• Illinois is No. 13 in the nation in defensive free throw rate at 22.7% (FTA/FGA), a complete contrast from last season when the Illini defense ranked 338th out of 353 teams in that same category (42.4%).

SFC Sellout

Illinois' home game March 1 vs. Indiana will be in front of a capacity crowd, with that game announced as a sellout on Tuesday. The Illini-Hoosiers matchup will be Stripe State Farm Center night, with odd-numbered sections and Illinois students asked to wear orange, while even-numbered sections requested to wear blue.

Limited tickets remain for the other five remaining home games, so fans are encouraged to get them while they can. The Maryland game on Feb. 7 is quickly approaching sellout status, currently with 500 tickets remaining. 

Cockburn Collects Seventh Weekly B1G Freshman Award

Kofi Cockburn is the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Week, earning the honor after averaging 13.5 points, 9.0 rebounds and 1.5 blocked shots in a pair of road wins.

Cockburn had a huge game at Purdue, recording a double-double with game highs of 22 points, 15 rebounds and three blocks. It marked his fifth 20-point game of the season and highest scoring total in league play. It was his eighth double-double, meanwhile, extending his Illinois freshman record and ranking fourth among NCAA freshmen this season. Cockburn added five points and three boards at Michigan.

This is already the seventh Big Ten Freshman of the Week accolade for Cockburn, just 12 weeks into the 2019-20 season. He expands his school record for the most honors by an Illini, dating back to 2010-11 when the league began honoring a weekly outstanding freshman performer. Cockburn is tied for the second-most Freshman of the Week awards by any Big Ten player, and the most since 2014-15 when Ohio State's D'Angelo Russell was also honored seven times during the season.

Closing Time

Sophomore guard Ayo Dosunmu has been Illinois' closer in close games, making key plays down the stretch during Illinois' winning streak:

• At Wisconsin – Hit a runner with 1:25 left that gave Illini a 1-point lead, then made a stepback 3-pointer with 46 seconds left to put the Illini up by four  … Directly involved in Illinois' final 14 points of the game, assisting on three consecutive 3-pointers before scoring Illinois' last five.

• Rutgers – Broke 46-all tie by scoring Illinois' last eight points in the final two minutes … Made two free throws with 1:34 left to put the Illini up two, then a layup with 50 seconds left to push the lead to four … Grabbed defensive rebound on ensuing possession and made two more free throws with :37 left to extend lead to six … Sealed win with two final free throws with 18 seconds remaining. 

• Northwestern – After Wildcats pulled within three, drained a crossover jumper with shot clock expiring to put the Illini up by five with 18 seconds remaining … Made two free throws with six seconds left to put the Illini up four and clinch the victory.

• At Purdue – After the Boilermakers cut the deficit to single digits with under five minutes to play, swished back-to-back pull-up jumpers at 4:18 and 3:41, thwarting any attempt of a Purdue comeback.

• At Michigan – Scored career-high 27 points, making a career-best 11 field goals … Made bucket with 2:41 left to tie game at 60 … Went 1-on-1 on game's final play with the score tied, hitting a crossover pull-up jumper from just beyond the free throw line over the outstretched arm of Zavier Simpson for the winner with :00.5 left.

Last Time Out: Dosunmu's Dagger Downs Wolverines

• Illinois remained atop the standings with the win, the latest Illinois has led the Big Ten since Jan. 31, 2006.

• Illinois won its sixth-straight Big Ten game, its longest streak since setting a school record with 25 consecutive conference wins spanning the 2004 and 2005 seasons (Jan. 31, 2004-March 3, 2005).

• Illinois snapped a five-game losing streak in Ann Arbor spanning 10 years. Illinois' last victory at Crisler Center was a 51-44 victory on Feb. 23, 2010.

• This marks Illinois' first home-and-home sweep of Michigan since the 2002-03 season. 

• Illinois notched its seventh Big Ten victory just nine games into conference play, matching last year's win total.

• Illinois won at Wisconsin, at Purdue, and at Michigan for the second time in the last 60 years. Illinois' 2004-05 Big Ten championship and national runner-up team also won at Wisconsin, Purdue, and Michigan.

• Illinois became just the second team in the last 27 years to win at Wisconsin, at Purdue, and at Michigan in the same season, joining the 2004-05 Fighting Illini.

• Ayo Dosunmu scored a career-high 27 points with seven rebounds. He made a career-high 11 field goals on 18 attempts and equaled his season high with two 3-pointers.

• Dosunmu made the game-winning basket with 0.5 seconds remaining. 

• Andres Feliz had 15 points with seven boards, tied for his third-most points in a Big Ten game in his career and his most points since scoring 19 vs. Hampton on Nov. 23.

» Complete Illinois-Minnesota Game Notes (PDF)