Career Record: 161-79 (.671), 8th year
At Illinois: 52-52 (.500), 4th year
Series Notes vs. Penn State
Record: Illinois leads 29-19
Streak: Illinois W-1
Record at University Park: Illinois leads 12-10
Streak at University Park: Illinois W-1
Last Year's Meeting: ILL 62, #9 PSU 56 (2/18/20 @PSU)
Underwood vs. Penn State: 1-3
Opening Tips
• No. 18 Illinois concludes a stretch with five out of six away from home, making a second straight trip to the East to face Penn State on Wednesday (5:30 p.m. CT, BTN).
• The visit to Penn State marks Illinois' fourth road game in the first month of the season. No other Big Ten team has played more than two games on an opponent's home court.
• Illinois ranks second in the NCAA in 3-point shooting at 45%, trailing only Baylor (.470). Last season the Illini were 294th nationally in 3FG percentage (.309).
• Illinois' three losses are to teams currently ranked in the top 14 with a combined record of 17-0.
• Leading the Illini is preseason All-American Ayo Dosunmu. Owning early-season numbers of 22.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, and 5.2 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 averaging 25.0 ppg and 12.5 rpg over the last two games, opening Big Ten play with consecutive double-doubles. He now has five double-doubles on the season, ranking fourth in the NCAA.
• Da'Monte Williams leads the nation in 3-point shooting (min. 10 attempts), connecting on 14-of-20 attempts for 70% accuracy. Williams entered his senior season as a career 27.8% shooter behind the arc.
On The Offensive
Illinois currently ranks seventh nationally in offensive adjusted efficiency (kenpom) at 114.0. 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 18th in the NCAA in scoring offense, averaging 88.2 points. Illinois has reached at least 77 points in seven of its first eight games for the first time since the 2010-11 season.
Illinois ranks fifth nationally in effective field goal percentage (60.2%). That is fueled by strong improvement from behind the arc to start the year, where the Illini currently rank second in the NCAA in 3-point field goal percentage (45%). Illinois is also one of the nation's best teams from 2-point range, shooting 57.3% to rank 28th.
Dominant Dosunmu
While it's still early in the 2020-21 season, the production of junior guard Ayo Dosunmu is up significantly across the board to date. 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
8.0 RPG
5.2 APG
.511 FG%
.385 3FG%
.767 FT%
2019-20
16.6 PPG
4.3 RPG
3.3 APG
.484 FG%
.296 3FG%
.755 FT%
Change
+6.0 PPG
+3.7 RPG
+1.9 APG
+2.7 FG%
+8.9 3FG%
+1.2 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 15th nationally with a 117.6 offensive rating (kenpom) and is 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, then had a career-high 36-point effort at Missouri.
After a season-low 10 points vs. Minnesota – a game where his scoring wasn't needed as the Illini dominated inside – Dosunmu poured in 22 points on Sunday at No. 19 Rutgers. He now has five 20-point games on the year, tied for second in the NCAA. His seven games scoring 18+ meanwhile is tied for first nationally.
Dosunmu's current scoring average of 22.6 points is the best by an Illini since Nick Weatherspoon netted 25.0 ppg in 1973. He is on pace to become just the second UI player in the last 29 years to average at least 20 points for a season, joining 2003 Big Ten Player of the Year Brian Cook (20.0 ppg).
King Kofi
Illinois has a strong presence in the paint in sophomore Kofi Cockburn. He is averaging 16.8 points while shooting nearly 65% from the field (.649). Cockburn has scored at least 13 points in seven of eight games, including an active four-game streak. He erupted for a career-high 33 points on 12-of-15 shooting with 13 rebounds in last week's win over Minnesota, becoming the only player in the NCAA this season to score at least 33 points while registering at least 13 boards.
Cockburn anchors the Illini interior defense and is grabbing nearly 10 rebounds per game (9.8) while leading the team with 9 blocked shots. He ranks among the top three players in the Big Ten and among national leaders in a number of key categories this season:
Double Doubles, 5 – 1st B1G, 4th NCAA
Field Goal Percentage, .649 – 3rd B1G, 25th NCAA
Free Attempts, 57 – 3rd B1G, 7th NCAA
Rebounds, 9.8 avg. – 1st B1G, 33rd NCAA
Foul Mood
Illinois finished 35th nationally in defensive efficiency last season. One of the primary factors leading to that ranking was the team's ability to guard without fouling, as the Illini ranked 20th in defensive free throw rate (23.9). Unfortunately that trend has not continued this season, as the Illini currently rank 214th with a 35.8 defensive free throw rate.
Illinois is committing 20.5 fouls per game, leading to an average of 22.4 free throw attempts per game for the opposition. The disparity has been magnified in Illinois' losses, with 26% percent of opponent scoring coming from the foul line.
» Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
