Game Notes | #11 Illini Host Arkansas State Friday
November 11, 2021 | Men's Basketball
News
| #11 ILLINOIS (1-0) vs. Arkansas State (1-0) | |
|---|---|
| Date | Time | Friday, Nov. 12, 2021 | 8 p.m. CT |
| Location | Champaign, Ill. | State Farm Center |
| Television | None |
| Live Stream | bigtenplus.com | B1G+ App |
| Radio | Busey Bank Illini Sports Network | Listen | TuneIn | Sirius (83) XM (83), SXM App (83) |
| Live Stats | FightingIllini.com |
| Printable Notes | Illinois | Arkansas State |
| Pregame Press Conference | Coach Underwood (Nov. 11) |
| Stats | Illinois | Arkansas State |
| Shop | Online Store | Auctions | Publications |
| Social Media | @IlliniMBB  | #Illini | @IlliniMBB  | Facebook  | YouTube  |
| Illinois Probable Starters (from the last game) | |||||||||
| Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | PPG | RPG | APG | Note |
| G | 20 | Da'Monte Williams | 6-3 | 215 | Sr. | 8.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | Played point guard vs JSU |
| G | 11 | Alfonso Plummer | 6-1 | 180 | Gr. | 9.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 | Tied career high with 4 assists vs JSU |
| G/F | 3 | Jacob Grandison | 6-6 | 210 | Gr. | 20.0 | 5.0 | 1.0 | UI career-high 20 points vs JSU |
| F | 33 | Coleman Hawkins | 6-10 | 215 | So. | 13.0 | 8.0 | 3.0 | Career-high 13 points & 8 boards vs JSU |
| F | 4 | Omar Payne | 6-10 | 240 | Jr. | 4.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 3 blocks vs JSU |
| Off the Bench (* = 2020-21 stats) | |||||||||
| Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | PPG | RPG | APG | Note |
| G | 0 | Brandin Podziemski | 6-5 | 200 | Fr. | 1.0 | 2.0 | 0.0 | 2021 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball |
| G | 1 | Trent Frazier | 6-2 | 175 | Sr. | 10.2* | 2.7* | 2.7* | 2021 Big Ten All-Defensive Team |
| F | 2 | Connor Serven | 6-9 | 235 | So. | 0.0 | 0.0 | 0.0 | Team's lone walkon in second year |
| G | 5 | Andre Curbelo | 6-1 | 175 | So. | 9.1* | 4.0* | 4.2* | 2021 Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year |
| G | 10 | Luke Goode | 6-7 | 200 | Fr. | 6.0 | 4.0 | 0.0 | 2021 Indiana first-team All-State |
| C | 12 | Brandon Lieb | 7-0 | 220 | So. | 0.0 | 0.0 | 1.0 | Has played in 6 career games |
| F | 13 | Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk | 6-8 | 235 | r-So. | 5.0 | 10.0 | 3.0 | Career-high 10 rebounds vs JSU |
| G | 15 | RJ Melendez | 6-7 | 205 | Fr. | 5.0 | 3.0 | 0.0 | 2021 Florida SIAA Player of the Year |
| G | 22 | Austin Hutcherson | 6-6 | 190 | Gr. | – | – | – | Missed last season with back injury |
| Out (* = 2020-21 stats) | |||||||||
| Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | PPG | RPG | APG | Note |
| C | 21 | Kofi Cockburn | 7-0 | 285 | Jr. | 17.7* | 9.5* | 0.2* | 2021 Consensus Second-Team All-American |
Head Coach Brad Underwood
Career Record: 181-83 (.686), 9th year
At Illinois: 72-56 (.563), 5th year
Series Notes vs. Arkansas State
Record: First meeting
Record at Champaign: Same
Last Meeting: N/A
Underwood vs. Arkansas State: First meeting
Opening Tips
• No. 11 Illinois is back in action Friday night, hosting Arkansas State (8 p.m. CT, B1G+).
• The Illini carry a six-game winning streak at State Farm Center.
• Illinois is coming off a 71-47 victory over Jackson State on Tuesday. It marked the fewest points allowed by the Illini in a season opener since holding Austin Peay to 35 points on Nov. 13, 2006.
• Illinois is No. 11 in the Associated Press poll and No. 10 in the Coaches poll, marking the second straight year the Illini appear in the preseason rankings (No. 8 entering last season). It is the first time since 2009-10 and 2010-11 that Illinois is ranked in consecutive preseason polls.
• Illinois has now been ranked for 21 straight weeks spanning three seasons of the Underwood era, a streak that began with the March 2, 2020 poll.
• Illinois is No. 4 in preseason ratings by kenpom and No. 5 by t-rank.
• Illinois is without Preseason All-American and Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Kofi Cockburn. He is serving a three-game NCAA suspension to open the season after selling institutionally issued apparel and memorabilia in June. Cockburn's activities occurred before July 1, when the State of Illinois and the NCAA enacted new NIL legislation that would have made those sales permissible.
• Guards Andre Curbelo and Trent Frazier also were sidelined against Jackson State, leaving Illinois without its top three leading returning scorers in the season opener.
B1G+ Stream Information
Fans unable to attend the Illinois-Arkansas State game can watch it by purchasing a subscription to B1G+, a streaming service of non-televised events produced by the Big Ten Network in partnership with the Big Ten Conference schools. The UT Rio Grande Valley game on Nov. 26 also will be streamed via B1G+.
Streams are available at bigtenplus.com or by downloading the B1G+ app.
Fans that sign up for the Illinois School Pass can choose either the monthly rate of $9.95 or the annual rate of $79.95. The B1G+ Illinois school pass includes access to live streaming of non-televised Illini games, next day on-demand archives, and access to Big Ten Network's library of Illinois' previous season classics and originals.
Notes from Tuesday's 71-47 Win Over Jackson State
• Illinois began its 117th season of men's basketball, improving to 103-14 (.880) all-time in season openers.
• The Illini are now 38-2 all-time (.950) when opening the season at State Farm Center. This includes a current streak of 25 straight wins when starting the year at SFC, a run that began on 12/1/93.
• Illinois held Jackson State to 47 points, the fewest by an opponent since Chicago State had 38 on 11/26/20, and fewest allowed in a season opener since Austin Peay scored 35 on 11/13/06.
• The Illini scored the game's first 12 points, with Jackson State making its first basket at the 13:32 mark. Illinois opened with a 21-2 run overall through the first 11+ minutes.
• Illinois totaled 12 steals and forced 20 turnovers, its most against a Div. I opponent since recording 12 steals and forcing 24 turnovers vs. Michigan State on 2/5/19.
• Illinois grabbed 47% of its misses, totaling 17 offensive rebounds on the evening and converting those into 17 second-chance points.
• Senior Jacob Grandison scored a game-high 20 points (7-10 FG, 2-4 3FG, 4-4 FT). It marked his highest point total as an Illini, and fifth time overall in double figures. Grandison's previous UI scoring high was 14 last season vs. Nebraska (2/25/21).
• Sophomore Coleman Hawkins set a number of career highs with 13 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists, 4 steals, and 29 minutes played.
• Sophomore Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk led the Illini in rebounding, grabbing a career-high 10 boards in a career-best 21 minutes while also scoring 5 points and dishing out 3 assists.
• With Andre Curbelo and Trent Frazier sidelined, senior Da'Monte Williams moved into the point guard role for the first time in his career. Williams finished with 8 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists and 3 steals in 31 minutes.
• Five players made their Illini debut:
Senior Utah transfer Alfonso Plummer (9 pts, 4 reb, career-high 4 ast, 3 stl)
Junior Florida transfer Omar Payne (4 pts, 3 reb, 3 blk)
Freshman Luke Goode (6 pts, 4 reb)
Freshman RJ Melendez (5 pts, 3 reb)
Freshman Brandin Podziemski (1 pt, 2 reb)
Honors Rolling In for Illini Duo
The preseason accolades are plentiful for Fighting Illini junior center Kofi Cockburn and sophomore point guard Andre Curbelo.
Cockburn averaged 17.7 points on 65.4% shooting, 9.5 rebounds and 1.3 blocks assists last season, earning NCAA Consensus Second-Team All-America honors. Curbelo, meanwhile, was named 2021 Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year after averaging 9.1 points, 4.2 assists and 4.0 rebounds.
They are projected to be one of the most prolific point guard-center tandems in college basketball this season:
Cockburn Preseason Recognition
• Associated Press All-America Team
• Big Ten Player of the Year (conference media)
• Wooden Award Top-50 Watch List (Los Angeles Athletic Club)
• Naismith Trophy Watch List (Atlanta Tipoff Club)
• NABC Div. I Player of the Year Watch List
• Lute Olson Award Watch List
• Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award Watch List, nation's top center (Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame)
• First-team All-American (Sporting News, CBS Sports, Blue Ribbon Yearbook, The Athletic, Athlon Sports, Dick Vitale & College Hoops Today)
• Second-Team All-American (Lindy's, Field of 68)
• No. 2, CBS Sports' Top 101 Players
• No. 3, March Madness 365's Top 25 Returning Players
• No. 4, Athlon Sports' Top 100 Players & Lindy's Top 150 Players
• Big Ten Player of the Year (The Athletic, Blue Ribbon & Lindy's)
Curbelo Preseason Recognition
• Wooden Award Top-50 Watch List (Los Angeles Athletic Club)
• Naismith Trophy Watch List (Atlanta Tipoff Club)
• Lute Olson Award Watch List
• Bob Cousy Award Watch List, nation's top point guard (Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame)
• First-Team All-American (Field of 68)
• Third-Team All-American (College Hoops Today)
• Fourth-Team All-American (Dick Vitale)
• All-Big Ten Team (conference media)
• No. 3, The Athletic's Top 20 Guards
• No. 24, CBS Sports' Top 101 Players
