#24 ILLINOIS (14-5, 7-2) at Northwestern (9-9, 2-7)
Date | Time	Saturday, Jan. 29, 2022 | 3:30 p.m. CT
Location	Evanston, Ill. | Welsh-Ryan Arena
Tickets	Sold Out | Stub Hub
Television	BTN (Jeff Levering & Stephen Bardo)
Live Stream	foxsports.com/live | FOX Sports App
Radio	Busey Bank Illini Sports Network | Listen | Varsity Network App | Sirius 136, XM 195, SXM App 957
Live Stats	NUSports.com
Printable Notes	Illinois | Northwestern
Pregame Media Zoom	Coach Underwood & Da'Monte Williams (Jan. 28)
Stats	Illinois | Northwestern
Record Book	Illinois
Shop	Online Store | Auctions
Social Media	@IlliniMBB | #Illini | @IlliniMBB | Facebook | YouTube

Head Coach Brad Underwood

Career Record: 194-88 (.688), 9th year
At Illinois: 85-61 (.582), 5th year
Big Ten: 47-40 (.550)

Series Notes vs. Northwestern

All-Time Record: Illinois leads 140-42
Streak: Illinois W-6
Last Meeting: #5 Illinois 73, Northwestern 66  (2/16/21 @Champaign)
Record at Evanston: Illinois leads 64-28
Streak at Evanston: Illinois W-2
Last Meeting at Evanston: #12 Illinois 81, Northwestern 56  (1/7/21)
Underwood vs. Northwestern: 6-2

Opening Tips

• Tied atop the Big Ten standings, No. 24 Illinois returns to action Saturday at Northwestern (3:30 p.m. CT, BTN).

• Illinois is coming off a home victory over No. 10 Michigan State, it's ninth top-10 win in the last three seasons. That ranks second nationally behind Baylor's 10.

• Illinois has won 11 of its last 13 Big Ten road games, and had won six straight until last Friday's loss at Maryland.

• Illinois is the winningest team over the last three Big Ten seasons.

• Illinois is 21-3 in its last 24 games versus league foes.

• Illinois has had nine different starting lineups, the most among high-major conference teams.

• Illinois rotation players have missed a combined 38 games so far this season.

• Trent Frazier is averaging 18.0 points over the last six games, including 12.0 points after the first half.

• Frazier joined the top 10 of the Illinois all-time scoring list in Tuesday's win over Michigan State. Now in ninth place, Frazier is 36 away from becoming the eighth Fighting Illini to reach 1,700 career points.

• Alfonso Plummer is averaging 17.0 points and making 3.8 treys per game over the last four games.

• Kofi Cockburn is in the top 11 nationally in both points and rebounds, ranking 11th in scoring at 21.1 ppg and third in rebounding at 11.8 rpg.

• Cockburn is the nation's lone player averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds on the season.

• Cockburn is the sixth high-major conference player since 1993 to average 21+ points and 11+ boards.

Taking Down the Top 10

Illinois' win over No. 10 Michigan State on Tuesday was the latest chapter in the Illini's success against the best under Coach Brad Underwood. Illinois set a school single-season record last year with six wins over top-10 opponents. The Illini are 10-9 during the Underwood era against top-10 teams, and in another indicator of the job he has done rebuilding the Illini program, are 10-4 in their last 14 games after starting 0-5.

Illinois has defeated nine top-10 opponents over the last three years, the second-most wins nationally behind Baylor:

1. Baylor, 10
2. Illinois, 9
3. Ohio State, 8
4. Oklahoma State, 7
5. Michigan State, 6

Notes from the Last Time Out: #24 Illini 56, #10 Michigan State 55 | Box Score

• Illinois got back in the win column after a two-game skid, improving to 7-2 in Big Ten play and moving into first place in the league standings.

• Illinois improved to 10-9 against top-10 teams in the Underwood era, including 9-4 over the last three years.

• Illinois' defense held Michigan State to season lows in points (55), field goal percentage (.345) and 3-point field goals (3).

• Illinois' 55 points was its fewest in a win since defeating Rutgers 54-51 on Jan. 11, 2020.

• Illinois won a game when it was outrebounded for the first time this season (1-4).

• Illinois won despite not scoring in the final five-and-a-half minutes.

• Trent Frazier moved into the top 10 of Illinois' all-time career scoring with a game-high 16 points, giving him 1,664 for his career (ninth place).

• The Big Ten's top 3-point shooter, Alfonso Plummer hit three treys tonight on his way to 11 points. He also tied his career high with four assists.

• Freshman Luke Goode scored a career-high nine points, hitting a trio of 3-pointers.

• Illinois played without preseason Big Ten Player of the Year Kofi Cockburn and preseason All-Big Ten selection Andre Curbelo.

• Reserve centers Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk and Omar Payne stepped up in Cockburn's absence, combining for 15 points.

• Bosmans-Verdonk tied his career high with eight points, while Payne scored seven.

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

Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)