| 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. |
13.4 |
3.3 |
3.5 |
19.8 ppg over last four games |
| G |
11 |
Alfonso Plummer |
6-1 |
180 |
Gr. |
16.4 |
2.5 |
1.1 |
1st in B1G in 3FG (3.1 avg) |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
215 |
Sr. |
4.2 |
5.4 |
3.1 |
UI career leader in games played (143) |
| G/F |
3 |
Jacob Grandison |
6-6 |
210 |
Gr. |
11.4 |
3.9 |
2.2 |
34th in kenpom offensive rating (129.3) |
| C |
21 |
Kofi Cockburn |
7-0 |
285 |
Jr. |
21.1 |
11.8 |
1.0 |
2nd in NCAA with seven 20/10 games |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Brandin Podziemski |
6-5 |
200 |
Fr. |
1.7 |
1.4 |
0.4 |
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. |
1.8 |
1.9 |
0.2 |
8 pts, 5 reb, 4 blk at Nebraska |
| G |
5 |
Andre Curbelo |
6-1 |
175 |
So. |
11.4 |
4.6 |
5.2 |
20 points in return vs Purdue |
| G |
10 |
Luke Goode |
6-7 |
200 |
Fr. |
2.3 |
1.7 |
0.6 |
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. |
1.7 |
2.7 |
0.9 |
4 pts, 4 reb, 2 stl in 20 min vs Purdue |
| G |
15 |
RJ Melendez |
6-7 |
205 |
Fr. |
3.1 |
1.6 |
0.6 |
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. |
6.8 |
5.1 |
1.8 |
.520 FG% over last eight games (13-25) |
Career Record: 193-87 (.689), 9th year
At Illinois: 84-60 (.583), 5th year
Big Ten: 46-39Â (.541)
Series Notes vs. Maryland
All-Time Record:Â Maryland leads 12-7
Streak: Illinois W-1
Last Meeting: Illinois 76, Maryland 64Â Â (1/6/22Â @Champaign)
Record at College Park: Maryland leads 5-1
Streak at College Park: Maryland W-3
Last Meeting: #3Â Maryland 59, Illinois 58Â Â (12/7/19)
Underwood vs. Maryland at Illinois / All-Time:Â 2-4 / 2-5
Opening Tips
• After having its six-game winning streak snapped and suffering its first Big Ten loss on Monday to No. 4 Purdue in double overtime, No. 17 Illinois looks to get back on the winning track Friday night at Maryland (6 p.m. CT, FS1).
• Illinois is aiming for its first victory at Maryland since Nov. 29, 2011. The Illini are 0-3 in College Park since the Terrapins joined the Big Ten.
• Illinois has won six straight Big Ten road games (streak began Feb. 27, 2021), and 11 of its last 12.
• Illinois' six-game Big Ten road winning streak is its longest since setting a school record with 13 consecutive conference road victories spanning the 2004 (6) and 2005 (7) seasons (Feb. 3, 2004-Feb. 19, 2005).
• Illinois' 6-0 Big Ten start was its best since 2005, and third-best since World War II.
• When including its run to the 2021 Big Ten Tournament championship, Illinois had won 13 straight games against conference opponents until the Purdue loss. Illinois is now 20-2 in its last 22 games versus league foes.
• Andre Curbelo made his long-awaited return to the court Monday, scoring a career-high 20 points vs. Purdue. Curbelo had not played since Nov. 23, missing 11 straight games with post-concussion related issues.
• Kofi Cockburn is in the top 10 nationally in both points and rebounds, ranking 10th in scoring at 21.1 ppg and third in rebounding at 11.8 rpg.
• Cockburn is the only player in the NCAA listed among the top 23 in both scoring and rebounding, and he is the nation's lone player averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds on the season.
• Cockburn is the sixth player from a high-major conference since 1993 to average 21+ points and 11+ boards.
• Trent Frazier is averaging 19.8 points over the last four games, including 14.5 points after the first half.
Frazier's B1G Week
Illini senior Trent Frazier is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week, the conference office announced Monday. He earned the award for the first time in his career after averaging 23.5 points, 6.0 assists, 2.5 steals and 2.5 rebounds in a pair of Illini wins last week, taking over down the stretch in both contests.
Frazier tallied a season-high 29 points with five assists and four steals in the win at Nebraska. It was the second-most points he has scored in 84 career Big Ten games, and his highest scoring performance since Jan. 30, 2019 during his sophomore season. He scored or assisted on 12 of Illinois' final 14 points that turned a 67-65 lead with three minutes left into an 81-71 victory.
Frazier then had 18 points with a career-high tying seven assists in the home win over Michigan. He scored or assisted on 19 of Illinois' final 21 points in that one, turning a 47-44 lead with six minutes left into a 68-53 victory.
Belo's Back
The Illini have received a big boost with the return of point guard Andre Curbelo. The sophomore was a preseason All-Big Ten pick and received various preseason All-America honors after starring off the bench for the Illini as a freshman and being voted Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year.
After missing this year's opener, Curbelo played in four games and averaged 9.3 points, 4.3 rebounds and 5.5 assists. He was then sidelined for the next 11 games, working to recover from post-concussion related issues. Curbelo returned on Monday vs. Purdue, checking in with 14:32 left in the first half and bringing the sellout crowd at State Farm Center to its feet to welcome him back to game action for the first time since Nov. 23.
Curbelo played 26 minutes in the double overtime contest, setting his career high in scoring with 20 points. He also had six rebounds and three assists. Curbelo is now averaging 11.4 points through five games, and has an assist rate of 43.0, fourth-best in the country.
Among the Greats
Kofi Cockburn is putting up rare numbers that rank among some of the most dominant big men in recent college basketball history. Cockburn is the first player from a high-major conference in the last four years to average at least 21 points and 11 rebounds, and just the sixth player to do so since 1992-93:
Michael Beasley, Kansas State, 2006-07 – 26.2 ppg 12.4 rpg
Kevin Durant, Texas, 2006-07 – 25.8 ppg 11.1 rpg
Blake Griffin, Oklahoma, 2008-09 – 22.7 ppg 14.4 rpg
Luke Harangody, Notre Dame, 2008-09 – 23.3 ppg 11.8 rpg
Marvin Bagley, Duke, 2017-18 – 21.0 ppg 11.1 rpg
Kofi Cockburn, Illinois, 2021-22 – 21.1 ppg 11.8 rpg
Cash Frazier
When super senior Trent Frazier goes on a heater, he has the ability to take over a game. He did so many times as an underclassmen, ranking second on the team in scoring as both a freshman (12.5 ppg) and sophomore (13.7 ppg) while combining for 10 games of 20+ points and totaling 141 treys.
As the Illini have added more talent to the roster, the unselfish Frazier developed other parts of his game and has earned a reputation as one of the top guard defenders in the country. But he can still change a game with his scoring, and that has been the case many times over the last two years playing alongside All-Americans Ayo Dosunmu and Kofi Cockburn.
Frazier ranks third on the Illini in scoring this season at 13.4 ppg. He has scored in double figures nine times, with three 20+ point outings.
Frazier has turned up the offense recently, scoring at least 15 points in seven of the last nine games, and averaging 17.0 points while shooting 40% from behind the arc with an average of 2.9 treys during this stretch:
Frazier has played a major scoring role in each of Illinois' last four games, averaging 19.8 points, including 14.5 ppg after the first half of those games.
Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
