| Illinois Probable Starters (from the last game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-2 |
175 |
Sr. |
11.5 |
3.3 |
2.9 |
3rd in B1G in 3FG% (.380) |
| G |
11 |
Alfonso Plummer |
6-1 |
180 |
Gr. |
16.4 |
2.6 |
1.1 |
27th in NCAA in 3s (3.1 avg) |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
215 |
Sr. |
4.4 |
5.5 |
3.4 |
14th in NCAA in assist/to radio (3.13) |
| G/F |
3 |
Jacob Grandison |
6-6 |
210 |
Gr. |
12.1 |
4.1 |
2.3 |
11th in kenpom offensive rating (135.6) |
| C |
21 |
Kofi Cockburn |
7-0 |
285 |
Jr. |
22.5 |
12.5 |
1.1 |
4th in NCAA in scoring, 3rd in rebounding |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Brandin Podziemski |
6-5 |
200 |
Fr. |
2.1 |
1.6 |
0.5 |
2021 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball |
| F |
2 |
Connor Serven |
6-9 |
235 |
So. |
0.0 |
0.2 |
0.0 |
Team's lone walkon in second year |
| F |
4 |
Omar Payne |
6-10 |
240 |
Jr. |
1.5 |
1.7 |
0.2 |
53.3% FG and 10 blocks |
| G |
5 |
Andre Curbelo |
6-1 |
175 |
So. |
9.3 |
4.3 |
5.5 |
Third in nation in assist rate (45.0) |
| G |
10 |
Luke Goode |
6-7 |
200 |
Fr. |
2.7 |
1.8 |
0.7 |
2021 Indiana first-team All-State |
| C |
12 |
Brandon Lieb |
7-0 |
220 |
So. |
1.1 |
1.0 |
0.1 |
Career-high 4 points vs St. Francis Pa. |
| F |
13 |
Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk |
6-8 |
235 |
r-So. |
1.6 |
2.8 |
1.0 |
4th on UI with 19 offensive rebounds |
| G |
15 |
RJ Melendez |
6-7 |
205 |
Fr. |
3.4 |
1.8 |
0.7 |
2021 Florida SIAA Player of the Year |
| G |
22 |
Austin Hutcherson |
6-6 |
190 |
Gr. |
2.8 |
2.0 |
0.5 |
Out for remainder of season |
| F |
33 |
Coleman Hawkins |
6-10 |
215 |
So. |
7.9 |
5.6 |
2.1 |
2nd on UI in steals (15) & blocks (10) |
Career Record: 191-86 (.690), 9th year
At Illinois: 82-59 (.582), 5th year
Big Ten: 44-38 (.537)
Series Notes vs. Nebraska
All-Time Record: Illinois leads 18-8
Streak: Illinois W-4
Last Meeting: #5 Illinois 86, Nebraska 70 (2/25/21 @Champaign)
Record at Lincoln: Tied 5-5
Streak at Lincoln: Illinois W-1
Last Meeting in Lincoln: #6 Illinois 77, Nebraska 72, OT (2/12/21)
Underwood vs. Nebraska: 5-2
Opening Tips
• Winners of four straight games and nine of its last 10 – and back in the AP Top 25 after a six-week absence, – No. 25 Illinois plays at Nebraska on Tuesday night (7:30 p.m. CT, BTN).
• Illinois carries an eight-game Big Ten winning streak, claiming its final four games last season along with this year's 4-0 start. This is Illinois' longest streak since setting a school record with 25 consecutive Big Ten victories across the 2004 (10) and 2005 (15) seasons (Jan. 31, 2004-March 3, 2005).
• When including its run to the 2021 Big Ten Tournament championship, Illinois has won 11 straight games against conference opponents.
• Illinois is 4-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since the 2009-10 season. Illinois is looking for its first 5-0 Big Ten start since 2005, when it won its first 15 league games.
• Illinois has won five straight Big Ten road games – and 10 of its last 11 – also taking five in a row last season from Dec. 23-Feb. 20.
• Illinois has not won more than five in a row on the road in conference play since it set a school record with 13 consecutive Big Ten road victories spanning the 2004 (6) and 2005 (7) seasons (Feb. 3, 2004-Feb. 19, 2005).
• Reigning Big Ten Co-Player of the Week and Wooden Award Midseason Top 25 honoree Kofi Cockburn is in the top five nationally in both points and rebounds, ranking fourth in scoring at 22.5 ppg and third in rebounding at 12.5 rpg. Cockburn is the only player listed among the top 15 in both categories.
• Illinois leads the nation in offensive rebound percentage (41.8).
• Illinois has outrebounded 12 of 14 opponents and ranks second in the NCAA in rebound margin at +14.3 rpg.
• Illinois is shooting 42.4% from 3-point range over the last nine games, averaging 11.4 makes (114-269).
• Illinois ranks 20th nationally in 3-point percentage (.388) and 21st in made 3-pointers (10.0 avg.).
• Illinois is averaging 86 points over the last nine games (774), leading to an 8-1 record. The Illini rank 25th nationally in scoring offense for the season, averaging 80.4 points.
• Kofi Cockburn is the lone player in the NCAA averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds this season. The last Illini to average 20 & 10 was Nick Weatherspoon in 1973 (25.0 ppg, 12.3 rpg).
• At 12.5 rpg, Cockburn is on pace to record the third-best rebounding season in Illinois history and the most by an Illini since Skip Thoren's single-season record of 14.5 rpg in 1965.
• Cockburn's scoring average of 22.5 points, meanwhile, currently ranks fourth-best in school history and the most since Nick Weatherspoon averaged 25.0 ppg in 1973.
• Cockburn has had four-straight 20-point, 10-rebound games, six on the season, and 14 for his career.
• Cockburn ranks third in kenpom national player of the year standings and third in offensive rating (125.0).
• Cockburn is averaging 14.1 rebounds over the last seven games (99).
• Cockburn is averaging 24.5 points over the last four games (98), scoring 20+ in all four contests.
• Cockburn has 37 career double-doubles, most in the NCAA among active players since 2019-20 and four shy of equaling the Illinois all-time record.
• Despite missing three games, Cockburn still ranks sixth in the NCAA in double-doubles with eight. He has posted double-doubles in seven straight games, including all four Big Ten contests.
• Cockburn has drawn 76 fouls through 11 games (6.9 avg). He is drawing 8.1 fouls per 40 minutes, which ranks second nationally.
• Cockburn is shooting 69.7% from the foul line this season, a vast improvement from his sophomore campaign (.553). In four Big Ten games, he has made 24-of-31 free throws (.774).
• Cockburn has 12 assists through 11 games. His season total in 31 games last year was five.
• Alfonso Plummer is averaging 20.5 points over the last 10 games (205), shooting 44.8% from 3-point range (39-87) while averaging 3.9 made threes. He has scored in double figures in all 10 games, with seven outings of 20+ points.
• Plummer leads the Big Ten and ranks 27th in the NCAA in 3-pointers, averaging 3.1 makes. He led the Pac-12 last season, averaging 2.6 made threes while at Utah.
• Plummer leads the nation in free throw shooting at 97.7% (42-43). He made his first 35 free throw attempts to start the season, the second-longest streak in school history.
• Jacob Grandison is averaging 13.4 points over the last seven games (94), scoring in double figures five times. He is shooting 48.8% on 3-pointers during that stretch (20-41), making an average of 2.9 threes (19).
• Da'Monte Williams ranks second in the Big Ten and is 14th in the NCAA this season in assist/turnover ratio at 3.13 (47:15).
• Williams had nine points and five rebounds in both games last week.
• Coleman Hawkins grabbed eight rebounds in back-to-back games last week in just 18.5 mpg.
• Trent Frazier is No. 11 on the UI scoring list (1,572), 81 points away from cracking the all-time Top 10.
Kofi Earns Second B1G Recognition in Three Weeks
Illini junior center Kofi Cockburn was named Big Ten Co-Player of the Week on Monday after averaging 26 points and 14 rebounds on 61.3% shooting in just 26 minutes per game during two wins. He shares the award with Wisconsin's Johnny Davis.
Cockburn had a pair of 20/10 games last week, brining his total to six this season, as well as nine double-doubles in the last 10 games.
He began the week with 29 points, 10 rebounds and season-high four blocks in 24 minutes at Minnesota, with his 29 points against the Gophers the second-highest scoring performance of his career in a conference game.
He then had 23 points on 9-12 shooting and tied his career high with 18 rebounds in 28 minutes vs. Maryland. His 18 boards equaled the most recorded in Big Ten play this season. After battling foul trouble in the first half, Cockburn tallied a double-double in the second half alone, with 16 points and 15 rebounds after intermission while outrebounding the Terrapins by himself, 15-10.
This is the third Big Ten Player of the Week award of Cockburn's career (Dec. 27, 2021 & Nov. 25, 2019).
Back in the Top 25
Illinois has been steadily rising in the analytic rankings after winning nine of its last 10 games. But the Illini spent six weeks outside the Top 25 polls before returning at No. 25 in this week's AP rankings. The Illini are No. 24 in the coaches poll. Here are current rankings for the Fighting Illini:
Sagarin - 9
BPI - 9
EvanMiya - 9
NET - 10
Kenpom - 11
T-Rank - 11
KPI - 17
Coaches - 24
AP - 25
Notes from the Last Time Out: Illini 76, Maryland 64 | Box Score
• Former Illini star and Chicago Bulls rookie Ayo Dosunmu attended the game and participated in a halftime banner raising ceremony, joining the Illinois Basketball Honored Jerseys program.
• Illinois defeated Maryland in Champaign for the first time since 2015.
• Illinois won when trailing at halftime (30-34) for the first time this season.
• Illinois improved to 4-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since the 2009-10 season.
• Illinois has now won eight straight Big Ten games, is its longest since a school-record streak of 25 consecutive Big Ten wins from Jan. 31, 2004-March 3, 2005.
• When including its run to the 2021 Big Ten Tournament championship, Illinois has 11 straight wins against Big Ten opponents.
• Illinois outrebounded Maryland, 45-27.
• Illinois outscored Maryland 26-4 in second chance points, while holding Maryland to only four offensive rebounds. It was a season high in second-chance points for the Illini.
• Kofi Cockburn had 23 points on 9-of-12 shooting and a career-high-tying 18 rebounds for his ninth double-double of the season.
• Cockburn has now posted double-doubles in seven straight games, including all four Big Ten contests.
• After playing only eight minutes in the first half due to foul trouble, Cockburn went for 16 points and 15 rebounds in the second half alone.
• Cockburn outrebounded Maryland in the second half, 15 to 10.
• Cockburn posted a +28 plus-minus in 28 minutes.
• Trent Frazier erupted for 14 second-half points, hitting four 3-pointers. He finished the game with 16 points.
Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
