| Illinois Probable Starters (from the last game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
11 |
Ayo Dosunmu |
6-5 |
200 |
Jr. |
22.6 |
8.2 |
6.0 |
82.1% FT (23-28) |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-2 |
175 |
Sr. |
9.2 |
3.8 |
2.8 |
1,165 career pts (#36 UI) |
| G |
44 |
Adam Miller |
6-3 |
180 |
Fr. |
13.4 |
2.2 |
1.0 |
42.3% 3FG (11-26) |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
215 |
Sr. |
7.6 |
6.8 |
2.5 |
69.2% 3FG (9-13) |
| C |
21 |
Kofi Cockburn |
7-0 |
285 |
So. |
13.0 |
9.4 |
0.3 |
3 double-doubles |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| F |
2 |
Connor Serven |
6-9 |
215 |
Fr. |
1.0 |
0.5 |
0.0 |
First year walkon |
| G/F |
3 |
Jacob Grandison |
6-6 |
205 |
r-Jr. |
2.4 |
3.0 |
1.5 |
10 pts, 8 reb in UI debut |
| F |
4 |
Zach Griffith |
6-6 |
220 |
Sr. |
0.7 |
0.7 |
0.0 |
2x Academic All-B1G |
| G |
5 |
Andre Curbelo |
6-1 |
175 |
Fr. |
10.4 |
3.0 |
2.8 |
63.6% FG (21-33) |
| G |
10 |
Edgar Padilla Jr. |
6-1 |
165 |
Fr. |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
First year walkon |
| C |
12 |
Brandon Lieb |
7-0 |
210 |
Fr. |
2.0 |
2.5 |
0.5 |
4 pts, 3 reb in debut |
| F |
13 |
Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk |
6-8 |
235 |
r-Fr. |
– |
– |
– |
Played in 9 G last year |
| F |
15 |
Giorgi Bezhanishvili |
6-9 |
245 |
Jr. |
8.2 |
4.0 |
1.3 |
13.0 ppg vs. Baylor & Duke |
| G |
22 |
Austin Hutcherson |
6-6 |
175 |
r-Jr. |
20.0* |
5.6* |
3.2* |
'18-19 stats from Wesleyan |
| G |
32 |
Tyler Underwood |
6-2 |
180 |
Gr. |
– |
– |
– |
Working on 2nd grad. degree |
| F |
33 |
Coleman Hawkins |
6-10 |
215 |
Fr. |
1.0 |
1.6 |
0.8 |
7.9 mpg |
| C |
34 |
Jermaine Hamlin |
6-10 |
235 |
So. |
0.5 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
2 pts, 1 reb vs Chicago St. |
Career Record: 160-77 (.675), 8th year
At Illinois: 51-50 (.505), 4th year
Series Notes vs. Missouri
Record: Illinois leads 32-18
Record at Columbia: Illinois leads 3-2
Last Meeting: MIZ 63, ILL 56 (12/21/2019 @St. Louis)
Underwood vs. Missouri: 1-2
Opening Tips
• Sixth-ranked Illinois (4-1) plays its third straight game away from home, traveling to Columbia to face unbeaten Missouri (4-0) on Saturday night (7 p.m. CT, ESPNU).
• The COVID-19 pandemic prevented the annual Braggin' Rights game from being played in the traditional neutral-site setting of St. Louis' Enterprise Center. School officials instead arranged to continue the series on campus this year, with the plan of returning to St. Louis next season. The location of Saturday's game was decided by a coin flip on Nov. 12, with the programs broadcasting it via a video stream hosted by Andy Katz.
• This is Illinois' first trip to Columbia since Dec. 5, 1978, a 69-57 Illini victory. It is the first game in the series not to be played in St. Louis, meanwhile, since Dec. 4, 1979, a 67-66 Tigers victory in overtime in Champaign.
• While Illinois and Missouri had played a total of 11 times, including four straight years on campus prior, the Braggin' Rights series in St. Louis began on Dec. 10, 1980. It had been played 39 times in the neutral-site location until this year's move to campus.
• Illinois is coming off a 15-point win at No. 10 Duke (83-68) on Tuesday, equaling the largest victory margin by a non-conference team at Cameron Indoor Stadium during Coach Mike Krzyzewski's 41-year tenure. It also marked the Illini's fourth top-10 win of the Underwood era.
Illini-Missouri Series History
Dec. 21, 1932 – Illinois 36, Missouri 24 (Columbia)
Jan. 3, 1934 – Illinois 31, Missouri 27 (Champaign)
Dec. 14, 1942 – Illinois 51, Missouri 30 (Champaign)
Dec. 18, 1943 – Illinois 39, Missouri 29 (Columbia)
Dec. 16, 1946 – Missouri 55, Illinois 50 (Kansas City)
Dec. 4, 1954 – Illinois 77, Missouri 49 (Champaign)
Dec. 10, 1955 – Missouri 74, Illinois 73 (Columbia)
Dec. 3, 1976 – Missouri 76, Illinois 75 (Columbia)
Dec. 6, 1977 – Illinois 96, Missouri 85 (Champaign)
Dec. 5, 1978 – Illinois 69, Missouri 57 (Columbia)
Dec. 4, 1979 – Missouri 67, Illinois 66, OT (Champaign)
Braggin' Rights Series in St Louis:
Dec. 10, 1980 – Illinois 84, #14 Missouri 62
Dec. 8, 1981 – #13 Missouri 78, Illinois 68 (OT)
Dec. 28, 1983 – #20 Illinois 66, Missouri 60
Dec. 6, 1984 – #7 Illinois 65, Missouri 50
Dec. 21, 1985 – #15 Illinois 67, Missouri 55
Dec. 23, 1986 – #9 Illinois 92, Missouri 74
Dec. 22, 1987 – Illinois 75, #17 Missouri 63
Dec. 19, 1988 – #5 Illinois 87, #10 Missouri 84
Dec. 20, 1989 – #5 Illinois 101, #4 Missouri 93
Dec. 19, 1990 – Illinois 84, Missouri 81
Dec. 23, 1991 – #16 Missouri 61, Illinois 44
Dec. 23, 1992 – Missouri 66, Illinois 65
Dec. 22, 1993 – Missouri 108, #19 Illinois 107 (3OT)
Dec. 22, 1994 – Missouri 76, #23 Illinois 58
Dec. 20, 1995 – #14 Illinois 96, #15 Missouri 85 (OT)
Dec. 28, 1996 – Illinois 85, Missouri 69
Dec. 23, 1997 – Missouri 75, Illinois 69
Dec. 22, 1998 – #15 Missouri 67, Illinois 62
Dec. 21, 1999 – Missouri 78, #15 Illinois 72
Dec. 21, 2000 – #5 Illinois 86, Missouri 81 (OT)
Dec. 22, 2001 – #9 Illinois 72, #8 Missouri 61
Dec. 21, 2002 – #12 Illinois 85, #11 Missouri 70
Dec. 23, 2003 – #21 Illinois 71, #11 Missouri 70
Dec. 22, 2004 – #1 Illinois 70, Missouri 64
Dec. 21, 2005 – #6?Illinois 82, Missouri 50
Dec. 19, 2006 – Illinois 73, Missouri 70
Dec. 22, 2007 – Illinois 59, Missouri 58
Dec. 23, 2008 – Illinois 75, #25 Missouri 59
Dec. 23, 2009 – Missouri 81, Illinois 68
Dec. 22, 2010 – #9 Missouri 75, #21 Illinois 64
Dec. 22, 2011 – #8 Missouri 78, #25 Illinois 74
Dec. 22, 2012 – #12 Missouri 82, #10 Illinois 73
Dec. 21, 2013 – Illinois 65, #13 Missouri 64
Dec. 20, 2014 – Illinois 62, Missouri 59
Dec. 23, 2015 – Illinois 68, Missouri 63
Dec. 21, 2016 – Illinois 75, Missouri 66
Dec. 23, 2017 – Illinois 70, Missouri 64
Dec. 22, 2018 – Missouri 79, Illinois 63
Dec. 21 2019 – Missouri 63, Illinois 56
Dominant Dosunmu
While it's obviously very early into the 2020-21 season, the production of junior guard Ayo Dosunmu is up significantly across the board. And that's coming off an impressive sophomore campaign where he earned first-team All-Big Ten accolades. Here is a look at Dosunmu's current numbers compared to a year ago:
2020-21
22.6 PPG
8.2 RPG
6.0 APG
.506 FG%
.421 3FG%
.821 FT%
2019-20
16.6 PPG
4.3 RPG
3.3 APG
.484 FG%
.296 3FG%
.755 FT%
Dosunmu is the only player in the NCAA averaging at least 20 points, 6 rebounds and 6 assists on the young season. How difficult would it be to maintain such lofty numbers? Consider that dating back to 1992-93, Memphis' Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway is the only college player to post those stats for an entire year.
Dosunmu currently ranks sixth nationally with a 131.0 offensive rating (kenpom) and third in the early running for Kenpom.com Player of the Year with a 1.462 rating. Dosunmu opened the season by scoring 20+ in three straight games, the longest streak of his career, and has now had back-to-back 18-point outings vs. No. 2 Baylor and at No. 10 Duke.
Shooting the Rock
Illinois ranks eighth nationally in effective field goal percentage (61.3%) after five games. That is fueled by strong improvement from behind the arc to start the year, where the Illini currently rank fifth in the NCAA in 3-point field goal percentage (47.3%). Last season the Illini struggled with 3-point shooting, ranking 294th (30.9%).
Illinois is 11th in kenpom offensive efficiency ratings at 111.1 and ranks 23rd in the NCAA in scoring offense, averaging 89.6 points.
» Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
