| Illinois Probable Starters |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Skyy Clark |
6-3 |
200 |
Fr. |
7.6 |
4.0 |
2.2 |
52.6% FG (10-19); 42.9% 3FG (6-14) |
| G |
0 |
Terrence Shannon Jr. |
6-6 |
215 |
Sr. |
21.2 |
6.8 |
4.0 |
18th in NCAA in scoring; 8 threes vs UCLA |
| G |
15 |
RJ Melendez |
6-7 |
205 |
So. |
5.8 |
2.2 |
0.8 |
2nd on team in steals (7) |
| G/F |
24 |
Matthew Mayer |
6-9 |
225 |
Gr. |
6.0 |
3.4 |
1.6 |
11 pts, 5 ast & 4 reb vs UCLA |
| F |
33 |
Coleman Hawkins |
6-10 |
225 |
Jr. |
10.0 |
5.2 |
3.6 |
10 pts & 3 blk vs UVA; 7 ast vs UCLA |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Sencire Harris |
6-4 |
160 |
Fr. |
5.6 |
1.2 |
0.6 |
+23 in 16 minutes in Las Vegas |
| F |
2 |
Connor Serven |
6-9 |
235 |
Jr. |
0.0 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
Academic All-Big Ten |
| G |
3 |
Jayden Epps |
6-2 |
190 |
Fr. |
10.8 |
2.4 |
1.8 |
Team-high 14Â points vs UVA |
| G |
10 |
Luke Goode |
6-7 |
200 |
So. |
2.0 |
1.8 |
0.5 |
2021-22 stats; sidelined (foot surgery) |
| C |
12 |
Brandon Lieb |
7-0 |
220 |
Jr. |
0.7 |
1.0 |
0.0 |
Academic All-Big Ten |
| G/F |
20 |
Ty Rodgers |
6-6 |
200 |
Fr. |
1.8 |
3.6 |
1.6 |
2.0 assist/turnover ratio (8:4) |
| G |
22 |
Paxton Warden |
6-4 |
180 |
Fr. |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Illinois state champion |
| F |
42 |
Dain Dainja |
6-9 |
270 |
r-So. |
14.0 |
7.6 |
0.2 |
3rd in NCAA in FG% at 80% (32-40) |
Career Record: 207-94Â (.688), 10th year
At Illinois: 98-67 (.594), 6th year
Big Ten: 55-43Â (.561)
Series Notes vs. Lindenwood
All-Time Record: Illinois leads 1-0
Last Meeting: Illinois 117, Lindenwood 65 (Nov. 26, 2019 in Champaign)
Underwood vs. Lindenwood:Â 1-0
Opening Tips
• No. 16 Illinois plays its first home game in 11 days on Friday night, hosting Lindenwood (8 p.m. CT, B1G+).
• Brad Underwood is closing in on his 100th win at Illinois, two away from becoming the sixth head coach in school history to reach 100 wins.Â
• Reigning Big Ten Player of the Week Terrence Shannon Jr. leads the Fighting Illini, boasting averages of 21.2 points, 6.8 rebounds and 4.0 assists. Shannon ranks 18th in the NCAA in scoring, and second among Big Ten players (Kris Murray, Iowa).
• Shannon is one of only two players in the country averaging at least 20 points, six rebounds and four assists (Elijah Pepper, UC Davis).
• Dain Dainja is one of the nation's most productive players off the bench, averaging 14.0 points and 7.6 rebounds in an average of just 18.7 minutes. He ranks third in the NCAA in field goal percentage at 80%.
• Dainja is the nation's only player averaging at least 12 points and six rebounds in less than 20 minutes per game.
• Illinois has seven newcomers among its current 9-man playing rotation, including four true freshmen.
• Illinois has climbed to No. 16 in this week's AP poll after debuting at No. 23 in the preseason rankings and moving to No. 19 last week. Brad Underwood has Illinois in the Top 25 for a fourth straight season after leading the program to a final AP ranking of No. 21 in 2020, No. 2 in 2021, and No. 19 in 2022.Â
• Illinois is a dramatically different team this season, welcoming three power-five transfers and a top-10 recruiting class to account for eight newcomers.Â
• Illinois must replace all five regular starters, its top five leading scorers, and a total of 10 players from last year's Big Ten champions. The Illini have lost 86% of its points, 80% of its rebounds, and 83% of its minutes played from a year ago.
• Illinois is the winningest team in the Big Ten over the last three seasons, registering a 44-16 mark in league play. The Illini won the regular season championship in 2022, led the conference in wins while adding a B1G Tournament crown in 2021, and finished one game back of the title in 2020.
Shannon Jr.'s B1G Week
Terrence Shannon Jr. is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week. He earned the award after averaging 22.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists while shooting 59.5% from the field and 56.5% from three. He had career and school-record performances while leading the No. 16 Fighting Illini to a 2-1 record on the week, including a top-10 victory.
Shannon began the week by setting a new career scoring high with 30 points in just 23 minutes in the blowout win over Monmouth, adding eight rebounds and four assists.
He then had arguably the signature performance of the early college basketball season, pouring in 29 points while tying the school record with eight 3-pointers in Illinois' comeback win over No. 8 UCLA in Las Vegas.Â
Shannon was on fire throughout the night, going 8-of-9 from downtown to become the sixth player in Illini history with eight made threes in a game. He also tallied his third career double-double – and first as an Illini – collecting a game-high 10 rebounds vs. UCLA to go with his 29 points.
Shannon finished the week by tying his career high with six assists and scoring nine points in the loss to No. 16 Virginia in the championship game of the Continental Tire Main Event.
Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
