Career Record: 161-78 (.675), 8th year
At Illinois: 52-51 (.505), 4th year
Series Notes vs. Rutgers
Record: Illinois leads 8-2
Streak: Rutgers W-1
Record at Piscataway: Tied 2-2
Streak at Piscataway: Rutgers W-1
Last Year's Meetings: ILL 54, RUT 51 (1/11/20 @ILL) | RUT 72, #22 ILL 57 (2/15/20 @RUT)
Underwood vs. Rutgers: 4-1
Opening Tips
• No. 13 Illinois has back-to-back road trips to conclude a stretch with five out of six away from home, beginning Sunday at 19th-ranked and undefeated Rutgers (12 p.m. CT, ESPN2).
• Illinois is aiming to start Big Ten play 2-0 for the first time since 2013-14 (home wins over Indiana & Penn State).
• Illinois is trying to win its opening Big Ten road game, meanwhile, since the 2010-11 season (at Iowa).
• After beating No. 10 Duke in Durham, Illinois enters its game at No. 19 Rutgers looking to defeat consecutive ranked teams on the road for the first time since March 1-8, 2014 (at No. 18 Michigan State & at No. 24 Iowa).
• Leading the Illini is preseason All-American Ayo Dosunmu. Owning early-season numbers of 22.7 points, 7.6 rebounds, and 5.1 assists per game, Dosunmu is the only player in the nation currently averaging at least 20 points, 5 rebounds and 5 assists.
• Kofi Cockburn is coming off a dominant performance in Tuesday's Big Ten opening win over Minnesota. Cockburn became the first player in the NCAA this season to tally 33 points and 13 rebounds during the Illini win.
On The Offensive
Illinois currently ranks eighth in offensive efficiency (kenpom) at 112.0. That is the second-highest ranking ever for the program (since metric began tracking in 1997), behind only the 2005 NCAA runner-up squad that finished No. 3 in offensive efficiency.
The Illini are 20th in the NCAA in scoring offense, averaging 88.3 points. Illinois has reached at least 77 points in six of its first seven games.
Illinois ranks sixth nationally in effective field goal percentage (60.1%). That is fueled by strong improvement from behind the arc to start the year, where the Illini currently rank ninth in the NCAA in 3-point field goal percentage (43.2%). Last season the Illini struggled with 3-point shooting, ranking 294th (30.9%). Illinois is also one of the nation's best teams from 2-point range, shooting 58.1% to rank 25th.
Dominant Dosunmu
While it's obviously early into the 2020-21 season, the production of junior guard Ayo Dosunmu is up significantly across the board so far. 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
22.7 PPG
7.6 RPG
5.1 APG
.513 FG%
.375 3FG%
.800 FT%
2019-20
16.6 PPG
4.3 RPG
3.3 APG
.484 FG%
.296 3FG%
.755 FT%
Change
+6.1 PPG
+3.3 RPG
+1.8 APG
+2.9 FG%
+7.9 3FG%
+4.5 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 12th nationally with a 119.7 offensive rating (kenpom) and is fourth 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, then had a career-high 36-point effort at Missouri. He is coming off a season-low 10 points vs. Minnesota, a game where his scoring wasn't needed as the Illini dominated inside.
Dosunmu's current scoring average of 22.7 points is the best by an Illini since Nick Weatherspoon netted 25.0 ppg in 1973. He is looking to become just the second Illini in the last 29 years to average at least 20 points for a season, joining Brian Cook in 2003 (20.0 ppg).
King Kofi
Illinois has a strong presence in the paint in sophomore Kofi Cockburn. He is averaging 16.7 points while approaching 70% shooting from the field (.683). He anchors the Illini interior defense and is grabbing nearly 10 rebounds per game (9.4) while leading the team with 9 blocked shots. Cockburn ranks among the top three players in the Big Ten and among national leaders in a number of key categories this season:
Double Doubles – 4 1st B1G, 5th NCAA
Field Goal Pct – 68.3% 3rd B1G, 21st, NCAA
Free Attempts – 53 2nd B1G, 5th, NCAA
Rebounds – 9.4 RPG 3rd B1G, 46th, NCAA
» Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
