| 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. |
24.8 |
7.7 |
5.2 |
B1G Co-Player of Week |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-2 |
175 |
Sr. |
8.3 |
3.3 |
2.5 |
1,169 career pts (#36 UI) |
| G |
44 |
Adam Miller |
6-3 |
180 |
Fr. |
11.5 |
2.0 |
1.0 |
37.9% 3FG (11-29) |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
215 |
Sr. |
6.8 |
6.0 |
2.2 |
62.5% 3FG (10-16) |
| C |
21 |
Kofi Cockburn |
7-0 |
285 |
So. |
14.0 |
8.8 |
0.2 |
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. |
2.0 |
2.5 |
1.0 |
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. |
11.0 |
3.2 |
2.8 |
60.5% FG (26-43) |
| 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. |
6.8 |
3.5 |
1.0 |
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. |
0.8 |
1.3 |
0.7 |
7.2 mpg |
| C |
34 |
Jermaine Hamlin |
6-10 |
235 |
So. |
0.5 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
2 pts, 1 reb vs Chicago St. |
Career Record: 160-78 (.672), 8th year
At Illinois: 51-51 (.500), 4th year
Series Notes vs. Minnesota
Record: Illinois leads 124-68
Streak: Illinois W-1
Record at Champaign: Illinois leads 73-19
Streak at Champaign: Illinois W-2
Last Year's Meeting: #19 ILL 59, MINN 51 (1/30/2020 @ILL)
Underwood vs. Minnesota: 2-2
Opening Tips
• Following three straight games away from home, No. 13 Illinois (4-2) returns to State Farm Center for the first time in 18 days, opening the Big Ten season against undefeated Minnesota (6-0) Tuesday night (6 p.m. CT, ESPN2).
• The Minnesota game is Illinois' lone home appearance in its current stretch with five out of six away from Champaign. Up next, the Illini have back-to-back trips to Rutgers and Penn State for the second year in a row.
• Illinois is 67-48 all-time in Big Ten openers, including 44-18 when opening league play at home, and 23-6 when doing so at State Farm Center.
• Illinois is aiming to start Big Ten play with a win for the first time since the 2013-14 season, when it defeated Indiana at home, 83-80 in overtime, on New Year's Eve.
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
24.8 PPG
7.7 RPG
5.2 APG
.535 FG%
.484 3FG%
.800 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 5 assists on the young season. How difficult would it be to maintain such lofty numbers? Consider that dating back to 1992-93, only three players have posted those stats for an entire year: Memphis' Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway in 1993, Morehead State's Ricky Minard in 2004, and Ohio State's Evan Turner in 2010.
Dosunmu ranks eighth nationally with a 125.6 offensive rating (kenpom) and third in the early running for Kenpom.com Player of the Year.
He opened the season by scoring 20+ in three straight games, the longest streak of his career, had back-to-back 18-point outings vs. No. 2 Baylor and at No. 10 Duke, and is coming off a career-high 36-point effort at Missouri.
Dosunmu's current scoring average of 24.8 points is the best by an Illini since Nick Weatherspoon netted 25.0 ppg in 1973.
Ayo Shares B1G Award
Two of the nation's top players were recognized with this week's Big Ten Player of the Week award, as Illini junior Ayo Dosunmu is co-recipient alongside Iowa's Luka Garza. Dosunmu earns the honor after he …
• Averaged 27.0 points and 8.5 rebounds while going 19-for-31 from the field (61.3%) and 15-for-18 from the free throw line (83.3%) in road games at Duke and Missouri.
• Recorded his third career double-double with a team-high 18 points and career- and game-high 12 rebounds in the 83-68 win at No. 10 Duke.
• Scored a career-high 36 points at Missouri, breaking the single-game scoring record in the Braggin' Rights series. His 36 points in the contest tied for the fifth-most points in the NCAA this season.
• Earns the second Player of the Week accolade of his career (Feb. 24, 2020); also was a two-time Freshman of the Week honoree in 2018-19.
» Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
