| Illinois Probable Starters (* = 2020-21 stats) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
5 |
Andre Curbelo |
6-1 |
175 |
So. |
9.5 |
6.0 |
5.0 |
Bob Cousy Award Watch List |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-2 |
175 |
Sr. |
17.5 |
4.5 |
1.0 |
23 points (6 treys) at Marquette |
| G/F |
3 |
Jacob Grandison |
6-6 |
210 |
Gr. |
15.0 |
5.3 |
1.7 |
UI career-high 20 points vs JSU |
| F |
33 |
Coleman Hawkins |
6-10 |
215 |
So. |
14.3 |
9.3 |
2.7 |
17 pts, 12 reb, 4 ast, 4 blk vs ASU |
| C |
21 |
Kofi Cockburn |
7-0 |
285 |
Jr. |
17.7* |
9.5* |
0.2* |
2021 Consensus 2nd-Team All-American |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Brandin Podziemski |
6-5 |
200 |
Fr. |
0.5 |
1.5 |
0.5 |
2021 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball |
| F |
2 |
Connor Serven |
6-9 |
235 |
So. |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Team's lone walkon in second year |
| F |
4 |
Omar Payne |
6-10 |
240 |
Jr. |
5.3 |
3.0 |
0.3 |
7 points & 5 boards at Marquette |
| G |
10 |
Luke Goode |
6-7 |
200 |
Fr. |
3.3 |
3.0 |
0.3 |
2021 Indiana first-team All-State |
| G |
11 |
Alfonso Plummer |
6-1 |
180 |
Gr. |
6.3 |
2.7 |
1.3 |
Second on team in 3-pt attempts (13) |
| C |
12 |
Brandon Lieb |
7-0 |
220 |
So. |
2.0 |
1.5 |
0.5 |
Career-high 4 points vs ASU |
| F |
13 |
Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk |
6-8 |
235 |
r-So. |
4.3 |
8.0 |
1.0 |
Career-high 10 boards vs JSU & ASU |
| G |
15 |
RJ Melendez |
6-7 |
205 |
Fr. |
5.5 |
2.0 |
0.5 |
2021 Florida SIAA Player of the Year |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
215 |
Sr. |
4.3 |
6.7 |
2.0 |
Career-high 11 boards at Marquette |
| G |
22 |
Austin Hutcherson |
6-6 |
190 |
Gr. |
– |
– |
– |
Missed last season with back injury |
Career Record: 182-84 (.684), 9th year
At Illinois: 73-57 (.562), 5th year
Series Notes vs. Cincinnati
Record: Illinois leads 3-1
Streak: Illinois W-3
Last Meeting: #1 Illinois 67, #22 Cincinnati 45 (12/31/2004 @Las Vegas)
Underwood vs. Cincinnati: First meeting
Opening Tips
• No. 10 Illinois begins a stretch of four games in eight days on Monday, facing 4-0 Cincinnati in the semifinal round of the Hall of Fame Classic at Kansas City's T-Mobile Center (5:30 p.m. CT, ESPNEWS).
• Illinois has the nation's top-ranked defense by kenpom (85.6 adjusted efficiency).
• Illinois has outrebounded each of its first three opponents by at least 20 boards. The Illini lead the NCAA in rebound margin at +21.3 rpg.
• Illinois ranks second nationally in offensive rebound percentage (.484) and first in average (20.0 orpg).
• Illinois returns Preseason All-American and Preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Kofi Cockburn for the Hall of Fame Classic. He served 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.
K.C. Connections
Head Coach Brad Underwood grew up in McPherson, Kansas, located 190 miles west of Kansas City. He played and coached at Kansas State, and was with the K-State program for a number of games in K.C.
Underwood played in the Big 8 Tournament at Kemper Arena in 1985 and 1986. He was a K-State assistant coach for a total of 13 games the Wildcats played at T-Mobile Center from the 2007-08 through 2011-12 seasons, including the CBE Hall of Fame Classic (November 2010) and highlighted by an appearance in the 2010 Big 12 Tournament title game.
Underwood most recently visited T-Mobile Center for the 2017 Big 12 Tournament during his lone season as Oklahoma State head coach. A lifelong Royals and Chiefs fan, Underwood will keep his focus on Illini Basketball and resist the temptation of attending Sunday's Chiefs-Cowboys game at Arrowhead Stadium.
Illinois, meanwhile, is making its debut in the Hall of Fame Classic and playing in Kansas City for the third time overall. The Illini faced Kansas at Kemper Arena on Dec. 19, 1998, falling 65-55 to the 13th-ranked Jayhawks. Illinois' first visit to K.C. came on Dec. 16, 1946, a 55-50 loss to Missouri.
Illinois-Cincinnati Series History
Monday marks the first time in 17 years that Illinois and Cincinnati meet on the hardwood. Illinois leads the all-time series 3-1, which includes an active 3-game winning streak.
The teams last met on New Years Eve in 2004 in Las Vegas, when the top-ranked and undefeated Illini rolled past the No. 22 Bearcats, 67-45.
It was Illinois' 14th victory of an eventual 29-game win streak to start the 2004-05 season, in which Illinois would go on to finish as NCAA Runner-Up.
Underwood Beats the Heat on Hot Ones
The hit show Hot Ones features host Sean Evans interviewing guests over buffalo wings, with the sauces getting progressively hotter over the course of the conversation. Evans is a 2008 University of Illinois graduate in broadcast journalism. He also is a Fighting Illini basketball fanatic who has been fully immersed in Illinois' resurgence on the national scene. After watching every Illini game from his New York-based home, Evans returned to the U of I campus in August to record a special edition of Hot Ones with Coach Underwood. Evans and Underwood devoured five wings over the course of the 15-minute interview from center court at State Farm Center, with the heat reaching a pinnacle on wing No. 4 topped with Da'Bomb Beyond Insanity hot sauce (135,600 Scoville scale). The Underwood episode of Hot Ones debuted on Saturday (Nov. 18), and within 24 hours was approaching 200,000 views. It can be found on YouTube on the First We Feast channel. | WATCH EPISODE
Notes from the Last Time Out
• Illinois let a 12-point second half lead slip away in a 67-66 loss at Marquette Monday night in the Gavitt Tipoff Games.
• Illinois committed 26 turnovers, its most in a game in 21 years (26 vs. No. 1 Duke, 11/28/2000).
• Illinois outrebounded Marquette, 50-30, its third straight game with a margin of 20+ on the glass.
• Trent Frazier led all scorers with 23 points. It marked his 15th career 20-point game and his most points since setting his season high last year with 24 in the home win over No. 7 Iowa (1/29/21). It was Frazier's highest point total on the road since scoring 30 at Minnesota three seasons ago (1/30/19).
• Frazier drained 6-of-10 from behind the arc, with the six treys falling on shy of his career high and marking his most in a game since also hitting six triples three seasons ago vs. Missouri (12/22/18).
• Frazier moved up two spots into 16th place on the Illini all-time scoring list with 1,469 career points.
• Da'Monte Williams set a career-high with 11 rebounds, eclipsing his previous best of 10 boards set twice last season vs. Purdue (1/2/21) and Ohio (11/25/21).
• Coleman Hawkins had 13 points and 8 rebounds, his third straight game with 13+ points and 8+ boards.
• Hawkins has 43 points and 28 rebounds through three games, nearly averaging a double-double (14.3 ppg, 9.3 rpg). Last season as a true freshman he totaled 36 points and 21 boards over 25 games.
• Jacob Grandison had 10 points for his third-straight game scoring in double figures, the longest streak of his Illini carer.
» Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
