No. 20 Illini Face Ranked Road Test at No. 17 Tennessee

#20 ILLINOIS (7-1) at #17 Tennessee (5-3)
Date | Time	Saturday, Dec. 9, 2023 | 11 a.m. CT (12 p.m. ET)
Location	Knoxville, Tenn. | Food City Center
Tickets	Ticketmaster
TV	CBS (Rich Waltz, Bill Raftery, Jay Wright & Jon Rothstein)
Live Stream	CBSSports.com/watch/college-basketball
Radio	Busey Bank Illini Sports Network | Varsity Network App | SiriusXM 139 or 195, SXM App 957
Live Stats	Live Stats
Printable Notes	Illinois | Tennessee
Pregame Press Conference	Coach Underwood (Dec. 8)
2023-24 Stats	Illinois | Tennessee
Record Book	Illinois
Shop	Online Store | Auctions
Social Media	@IlliniMBB | #Illini | @IlliniMBB | Facebook | YouTube

Head Coach Brad Underwood

Career Record: 230-107 (.682), 11th year
At Illinois: 121-80 (.602), 7th year
Big Ten: 67-52 (.563)

Series History

All-Time Record: Tennessee leads 2-1
Last Meeting: #20 Illinois 103, Tennessee 79  (1/17/1988 in Champaign)
Record at Neutral Sites: Tennessee leads 2-0
Underwood vs. Tennessee: First Meeting

Opening Tips

• No. 20 Illinois wraps up a stretch of three straight games away from home over a one-week span, traveling to Knoxville, Tenn. for a Saturday showdown with No. 17 Tennessee (11 a.m. CT, CBS).
• This is the first part of a home-and-home series between the Illini and Vols, with Illinois set to host Tennessee next season in Champaign (Dec. 14, 2024). 
• Leading the way for the Fighting Illini is Terrence Shannon Jr. The fifth-year star is currently ranked No. 4 in the early race for KenPom National Player of the Year, and highest among all guards. 
• Shannon ranks second in the Big Ten and 13th in the NCAA in scoring at 21.6 points per game.
• The Illini are on a five-game winning streak and fresh off a 98-89 victory over No. 11 Florida Atlantic on Tuesday night in the Jimmy V Classic at Madison Square Garden.
• Illinois' road swing began with a decisive 76-58 win at Rutgers last Saturday to open Big Ten play.
• Illinois has 18 wins over Top 25 teams the last three-plus seasons, fourth-most nationally. 
• Illinois is looking for its first non-conference road win since Coach Underwood led the 6th-ranked Illini to a dominating 83-68 victory over No. 10 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium on Dec. 8, 2020.
• Illinois is the Big Ten's winningest team in conference play since the start of 2019-20. Following last weekend's win at Rutgers, the Illini are now 56-25 in league games over the last four-plus seasons. Illinois finished fifth in 2023, 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. 
• Defensively, Illinois ranks fourth nationally in field goal percentage defense (.357) and ranks 22nd in the NCAA in both scoring defense (62.4 ppg) and scoring margin (+17.8). 
• Illinois also ranks among the top three nationally in two defensive categories via KenPom: leading the nation in 2-point defense (.363), and ranking third in effective field goal percentage defense (.400). 
• KenPom rates the Illini defense at No. 11 overall in adjusted efficiency (92.6).
• Prior to Tuesday's win vs. FAU, Illinois had pulled down 50+ rebounds in each of its previous four victories, the longest streak for the program dating back to the 1963-64 season. 
• The Illini lead the NCAA in defensive rebounds per game (33.75) and are third in total rebounds per game (46.38), while ranking ninth in rebound margin (+12.5). 
• The Illini have outrebounded their opponent in seven of eight games this season, with the lone exception coming in Tuesday's win over No. 11 Florida Atlantic in which the Owls posted a narrow 28-26 edge. 
• Terrence Shannon Jr. leads the Illini and ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring, averaging 21.6 points, while hitting 53.9% from the field (55-102), the No. 8 mark in the Big Ten. 
• Shannon has scored at least 15 points in every game this season, including 20+ points in five of the last six games. He has an active double-figure scoring streak of 18 games, which began on Jan. 31, 2023.
• Luke Goode and Shannon rank as the top two players in the Big Ten in 3-point percentage and 3-pointers per game. Shannon averages 3.0 per game at a 45.3% clip (24-53) while Goode averages 2.5 triples at a league-leading 46.5% (20-43) from distance which also ranks 16th nationally.
• Quincy Guerrier leads one of the nation's most tenacious rebounding teams, ranking 11th in the Big Ten at 6.9 rebounds per game, overall, and eighth in the league in defensive rebounding (6.6 per game). 
• After missing the three previous games due to a knee injury, Coleman Hawkins returned to the starting lineup at Rutgers and has averaged 7.5 points and 5.0 rebounds in 26 minutes per game over the last two. 
• Head Coach Brad Underwood had Illinois ranked by the AP in four straight preseason polls for the first time since the preseason poll began in 1961-62. 
• Illinois' 15-man roster features an experienced blend of returning talent and impact transfers, combined with a top-25 freshman class. Eight players, including three starters, are back from the 2022-23 team, with five new players joining the Illini as Division I transfers, and two incoming freshmen. 
• Entering the season, Illinois' eight returning players had combined to play 347 games at the NCAA Division I level with 159 combined starts by the group. Likewise, the team's five transfer players opened the year with 304 career games with 198 starts under their belts.

'Now or Never': Shannon, Hawkins Gear up for Last Dance at Illinois

Now or never. Now or never. Now or never.

Those three words would not leave Coleman Hawkins' mind. Locked in on pursuing his dreams and taking his game to the next level, Hawkins submitted his name into the 2023 NBA Draft with the intention of hearing his name called on draft night and becoming a professional basketball player...continue reading

Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)