Illini Face No. 21 Northwestern Thursday at State Farm Center

ILLINOIS (18-9, 9-7) vs. #21 Northwestern (20-7, 11-5)
Date \| Time	Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2023 \| 8 p.m. CT
Location	Champaign, Ill. \| State Farm Center
Tickets	FightingIllini.com
Television	BTN (Kevin Kugler & Robbie Hummel)
Live Stream	fosxports.com/live/btn \| FOX Sports App
Radio	Busey Bank Illini Sports Network \| Varsity Network App \| SiriusXM 383, SXM App 973
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Printable Notes	Illinois \| Northwestern
Pregame Press Conference	Coach Underwood (Feb. 22)
Stats	Illinois \| Northwestern
Record Book	Illinois \| Big Ten \| NCAA
Shop	Online Store \| Auctions
Social Media	@IlliniMBB \| #Illini \| @IlliniMBB \| Facebook \| YouTube

Illinois Probable Starters
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG	Note
G	3	Jayden Epps	6-2	190	Fr.	10.3	2.0	1.6	17 pts, 4 threes vs Minnesota
G	15	RJ Melendez	6-7	205	So.	5.7	3.3	0.7	10 pts, 11 reb vs Minnesota
G/F	24	Matthew Mayer	6-9	225	Gr.	12.6	5.3	1.2	23.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg over last 2 games
F	33	Coleman Hawkins	6-10	225	Jr.	9.9	6.5	3.1	13 ppg, 55% FG over last 4 games
F	42	Dain Dainja	6-9	270	r-So.	10.3	5.9	0.6	12.8 ppg over last 5 games
Off the Bench
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Yr.	PPG	RPG	APG	Note
G	0	Terrence Shannon Jr.	6-6	225	Sr.	17.0	5.0	3.0	20 pts at Penn St, 8th 20-pt game
G	1	Sencire Harris	6-4	160	Fr.	3.5	2.0	0.9	+21 in 19 min vs #24 Rutgers
F	2	Connor Serven	6-9	235	Jr.	0.2	0.8	0.0	Academic All-Big Ten
G	5	AJ Redd	6-3	160	Fr.	0.0	0.0	0.0	Former manager now on roster
G	10	Luke Goode	6-7	200	So.	2.5	1.0	0.8	7 pts, 2 reb, 2 ast at Indiana
G	11	Niccolo Moretti	6-1	160	Fr.	–	–	–	Joined team Jan. 26; will redshirt
C	12	Brandon Lieb	7-0	220	Jr.	1.2	1.3	0.2	3 reb in 7 min at Indiana
G/F	20	Ty Rodgers	6-6	200	Fr.	2.7	3.9	1.0	Career-high 11 pts, 8 reb at Penn St
G	22	Paxton Warden	6-4	180	Fr.	0.2	0.0	0.0	First career FG at Minnesota
G	55	Skyy Clark	6-3	200	Fr.	7.0	3.7	2.1	Announced leave from team Jan. 6

Head Coach Brad Underwood

Career Record: 221-102 (.684), 10th year
At Illinois: 112-75 (.599), 6th year
Big Ten: 64-50 (.561)

Series Notes vs. Northwestern

All-Time Record: Illinois leads 142-43
Streak: Northwestern W-1
Last Meeting: Northwestern 73, Illinois 60 (Jan. 4, 2023 at Evanston)
Record at Champaign: Illinois leads 72-14
Streak at Champaign: Illinois W-6
Last Meeting at Champaign: #13 Illinois 73, Northwestern 66 (Feb. 13, 2022)
Underwood vs. Northwestern: 8-3

Opening Tips

• Illinois plays its penultimate game at State Farm Center on Thursday night, facing No. 21 Northwestern.

• Illinois is 4-3 against ranked opponents this season and has won 15 of its last 24 games vs. Top 25 teams.

• Illinois is 13-2 at home this season and carries a four-game winning streak at State Farm Center.

• Illinois has won nine of its last 13 games, compiling four- and three-game win streaks during this stretch.

• The postponement and rescheduling of the Minnesota game has the Illini continuing a stretch of four games in nine days from Feb. 18-26.

• Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks third in the NCAA in blocked shots, averaging 5.8 bpg.

• The Illini's current total of 156 blocks is just seven away from breaking the school single-season record of 162, set in 1978-79.

• Illinois has allowed an average of just 60.1 points (541) in its Big Ten wins, holding all nine opponents below the 70-point mark. The Illini have given up an average of 77.6 points (543) in its Big Ten losses, however, with all seven opponents topping 70 points.

• All nine of Illinois' Big Ten wins have been by at least nine points.

• Senior Matthew Mayer has scored in double figures in six of the last seven games – with four 20-point outings – and is averaging 18.3 points (128), 6.7 rebounds (47) and 3.0 three-pointers (21) during this stretch.

Last Time Out: Illinois 78, Minnesota 69 Box Score

• Illinois won its sixth straight over the Gophers, their longest such streak since winning 20-straight from March 4, 1999 to March 15, 2008.

• Illinois improved to 13-2 at State Farm Center this season, winning at least 13 home games in back-to-back seasons for the first time since 2010-12.

• The Illini made 10 three-pointers in a game for the first time since Jan. 7 at Wisconsin.

• Illinois had five players score in double-figure figures.

• Matthew Mayer scored a team-high 22 points, going 7-for-14 from the floor, and added seven rebounds.

• It was Mayer's sixth 20-point game this season, and fourth in the last seven games.

• It marks the first time in Mayer's career with back-to-back 20-point games.

• Mayer grabbed at least seven rebounds for the fourth straight game.

• Jayden Epps scored 17 points, going 6-for-11 from the floor, including 4-for-3 from behind the arc.

• It marked Epps' most points in Big Ten play.

• Epps scored the team's first eight points of the second half, bookending a pair of 3-pointers with a layup.

• Epps' four 3-pointers marked the second most of his career (five vs. Monmouth).

• RJ Melendez recorded his first-career double-double, scoring 10 points and grabbing a career-high 11 boards.

• It was Melendez' first game scoring in double-figures since Jan. 19 vs. Indiana.

• Coleman Hawkins scored 16 points on 6-of-12 from the field and 3-of-8 from three, while adding seven rebounds and three assists.

• Dain Dainja scored 12 points, reaching double digits for the fourth time in the last five games.

Schedule