| 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. |
13.3 |
3.1 |
3.8 |
23 points on 8-11 FG at Indiana |
| G |
11 |
Alfonso Plummer |
6-1 |
180 |
Gr. |
15.3 |
2.7 |
1.2 |
1st in B1G in 3FG (3.0 avg) |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
215 |
Sr. |
4.1 |
5.8 |
3.1 |
2nd in B1G in assist/to ratio (3.0) |
| G/F |
3 |
Jacob Grandison |
6-6 |
210 |
Gr. |
10.7 |
4.0 |
2.3 |
43.4% on threes (43-99) |
| C |
21 |
Kofi Cockburn |
7-0 |
285 |
Jr. |
21.8 |
11.4 |
0.9 |
B1G & Naismith Trophy Player of Week |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Brandin Podziemski |
6-5 |
200 |
Fr. |
1.8 |
1.2 |
0.4 |
5 points vs Northwestern |
| 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. |
2.1 |
1.8 |
0.2 |
7 pts, 3 reb, 2 blk vs MSU |
| G |
5 |
Andre Curbelo |
6-1 |
175 |
So. |
8.9 |
3.4 |
3.5 |
Career-high 20 points vs Purdue |
| G |
10 |
Luke Goode |
6-7 |
200 |
Fr. |
2.4 |
1.8 |
0.7 |
Career-high 9 points vs MSU |
| C |
12 |
Brandon Lieb |
7-0 |
220 |
So. |
0.9 |
0.8 |
0.1 |
Career-high 4 points vs St. Francis Pa. |
| F |
13 |
Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk |
6-8 |
235 |
r-So. |
2.2 |
2.5 |
0.8 |
Career-high 8 points vs MSU |
| G |
15 |
RJ Melendez |
6-7 |
205 |
Fr. |
2.7 |
1.5 |
0.7 |
Career-high 6 points vs Northwestern |
| 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. |
5.7 |
4.2 |
1.5 |
3rd on team in steals (17) & blocks (12) |
Career Record: 197-88 (.691), 9th year
At Illinois: 88-61 (.591), 5th year
Big Ten: 50-40Â (.556)
Series Notes vs. Purdue
All-Time Record: Purdue leads 103-90
Streak: Purdue W-1
Last Meeting: #4 Purdue 96, #17 Illinois 88, 2OTÂ (1/17/2022Â at Champaign)
Record at West Lafayette: Purdue leads 63-29
Streak at West Lafayette: Illinois W-1
Last Meeting at West Lafayette: #21 Illinois 79, Purdue 62 (1/21/2020)
Underwood vs. Purdue:Â 3-3
Opening Tips
• Big Ten leaders meet on ESPN Super Tuesday, as 10-2 Illinois plays at 9-3 Purdue (8 p.m. CT).
• This is Illinois' second straight road game, continuing a stretch with four out of five away home. Illinois is coming off a 74-57 win at Indiana on Saturday, its largest victory margin ever at IU's Assembly Hall.
• Illinois' next three road opponents are a combined 32-4 on their home court.
• Illinois' 10-2 record is its best after 12 Big Ten games since 2005 (12-0).
• Illinois has five Quad 1 wins, tied for ninth-most nationally.
• During its current four-game winning streak, Illinois' defense is holding opponents to an average of 58.8 points on combined 36.2% shooting, including 21.7% from three.
• Illinois heads to No. 3 Purdue having won seven of its last eight games against top-10 teams. The Illini have recorded nine top-10 wins over the last three seasons, second nationally behind Baylor's 10.
• No. 3 Purdue is the highest-ranked team the Illini will face since last year's 76-53 win at No. 2 Michigan (3/2/21).
• Illinois has won eight of its last nine Big Ten road games, and 13 of its last 15.
• Illinois has totaled 18 road wins in Big Ten play over the last three years, five more than the next closest team (Wisconsin, 13). Illinois is 18-8 during this stretch (.692), the only B1G team above .500 in league road games.
• In its last trip to Purdue (1/21/20), Illinois won 79-62 to snap a seven-game losing streak in West Lafayette.
• Illinois is aiming for consecutive wins at Mackey Arena for the first time since 2004 and 2005.
• Illinois is the Big Ten's winningest team over the last three seasons, with a 42-13 (.764) record vs. league foes.
• Illinois is 24-3 in its last 27 games versus Big Ten opponents.
• Illinois has had nine different starting lineups this season, the most among high-major conference teams.
• Illinois rotation players have missed a combined 42 games so far this season.
• Illinois has clinched a winning Big Ten record for the third straight season. This is the longest streak for the program since doing so for eight straight years from 2000 through 2007.
• Illinois has outrebounded 15 of 22 opponents and ranks sixth in the NCAA in rebound margin at +8.6 rpg.
• Illinois is 14-1 this season when scoring at least 70 points in regulation, with the lone loss to Arizona (79-83).
• Illinois is unbeaten this season when shooting better than its opponent (15-0), and when shooting at least 45% (12-0).
• Leading the way for Illinois is National Player of the Year candidate, and current Big Ten and Naismith Trophy Player of the Week Kofi Cockburn. He is the only player in the country averaging 20+ points and 10+ rebounds this season.
• Cockburn has 40 career double-doubles, one away from the Illinois record set by Skip Thoren from 1963-65.
• Cockburn's 40 career double-doubles are most in the NCAA since 2019-20.
• Cockburn has eight 20-point, 10-rebound games the season, ranking second in the NCAA.
• Despite missing five games, Cockburn still ranks ninth in the NCAA in double-doubles this season with 12. He had double-doubles in nine straight games, including the first six Big Ten contests, until the streak snapped Jan. 17 vs. Purdue.
• Cockburn is drawing 7.6 fouls per 40 minutes, which ranks fifth nationally.
• Cockburn is vying to become the first Illini to average 20 points and 10 rebounds for a season since Nick Weatherspoon in 1973 (25.0 ppg, 12.3 rpg).
• Cockburn has 16 assists in 17 games. His season total in 31 games last year was five.
• Trent Frazier is averaging 16.0 points over the last nine games (144), scoring at least 13 points seven times.
• Frazier is averaging 5.1 assists over the last eight games (41).
• Frazier is No. 8 on the UI scoring list (1,700) and also ranks in the Illini top 10 in career games played (second), minutes (second), 3-pointers (third), starts (fifth) and steals (sixth).
• Alfonso Plummer is averaging 17.2 points over the last 18 games (311), shooting 41.4% from 3-point range (60-145) while averaging 3.3 made threes.
• Plummer has scored in double figures 15 times, with eight outings of 20+ points.
• Plummer leads the Big Ten in 3-pointers, averaging 3.0 makes. He led the Pac-12 last season, averaging 2.6 made threes while at Utah.
• Da'Monte Williams is Illinois' all-time leader in games played, currently at 148.
• Williams ranks second in the Big Ten and 12th in the NCAA in assist-to-turnover ratio at 3.0.
King Kofi's Big Week
Illini junior Kofi Cockburn is the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week and has also been selected as National Player of the Week by the Naismith Trophy, NCAA March Madness, and Dick Vitale. Cockburn earns the recognition after averaging 27 points and 10 rebounds on 69% shooting in a pair of victories, keeping the Illini atop the current Big Ten standings.
Cockburn had a dominant performance in the 80-67 win over No. 11 Wisconsin, totaling 37 points on 16-of-19 shooting with 12 rebounds. His 37 points tied the most in a Big Ten game this season, while his 16 field goals are third-most in the NCAA on the year, and the most against a ranked opponent and high-major conference opponent. Cockburn then had 17 points, game-high eight rebounds and two steals in the 74-57 win at Indiana, Illinois' largest margin of victory in Bloomington since 1956.
Notes from the Last Time Out: #18 Illini 74, Indiana 57Â | Box Score
• The 17-point win was the Illini's largest margin of victory ever at IU's Assembly Hall, which opened 50 years ago.
• It was Illinois' largest margin of victory at Indiana since the No. 8 Illini beat the No. 12 Hoosiers by 24 (96-72) on January 14, 1956.
• Illinois has now won eight of its last nine Big Ten road games, and 13 of its last 15.
• Following last year's overtime win in Bloomington, the Illini have now won back-to-back games at Indiana for the first time since 2009 and 2010.
• Illinois held Indiana to season lows in points (57), shooting percentage (.357), and field goals made (20).
• Illinois remained in first place in the Big Ten with a record of 10-2.
• Illinois' 10-2 Big Ten record is its best after 12 games since 2005 (12-0).
• Trent Frazier led all scorers with 23 points on 8-of-11 shooting, his fourth 20-point game of the season and 18th of his career.
• It was Frazier's second-highest scoring total in Big Ten play this season and most points since his season-high 29 at Nebraska on Jan. 11
• Frazier's 72.7% (8-11) from the field was his best shooting percentage of his career.
• Kofi Cockburn had another strong game, totaling 17 points with a game-high eight boards and two steals.
• Frazier and Cockburn controlled the second half, combining to outscore Indiana (26-21) and make more shots than the Hoosiers (9-8). Frazier had 14 points in the second half and Cockburn added 12.
• Da'Monte Williams had another great all-around game, tallying 6 points, 7 rebounds and career-high 3 blocked shots.
• Illinois' defense held Big Ten stars to poor shooting games for two-straight games:
   » Johnny Davis (WIS) 5-of-19 (26.3%), second worst of the season
   » Trayce Jackson-Davis (IND) 3-of-9 (33.3%), worst of the season
Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
