#24 Illini Close 2024 vs. Chicago State at Sold Out State Farm Center

Following a week-long Holiday break, No. 24 Illinois returns to action on Sunday afternoon, facing Chicago State at sold-out State Farm Center to close out the 2024 calendar year (1 p.m. CT, BTN).

Brad Underwood has led the Illini program to Top-25 rankings in six consecutive seasons. Illinois returned to the AP poll for the third time this season on Monday, currently ranked 24th.

The Chicago State game marks Illinois' final non-conference home contest. The Illini still have one non-league game remaining, against No. 4 Duke at Madison Square Garden on Feb. 22. 

With Illinois' next victory, eighth-year head coach Brad Underwood will move into sole possession of fourth place on the Fighting Illini all-time coaching wins list. Underwood is currently tied with Doug Mills (1937-47) at 151 wins apiece.

Point guard Kasparas Jakucionis has scored 20+ points in each of the last six games, shattering the Illini freshman record for consecutive 20-point games (previous record was two). Over this span, Jakucionis is averaging 21.8 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 4.5 assists while knocking down 20 three-pointers at a 49% clip.  

Jakucionis is the fourth Big Ten freshman since 1996-97 with at least six-straight 20-point games, and the first to do so since Indiana's Eric Gordon had seven in a row in 2007.

Tomislav Ivisic has recorded six double-doubles through 11 games, tied with Northwestern's Brooks Barnhizer for most in the Big Ten this season.

Illinois is No. 14 in the NCAA NET rankings through games played Dec.26. The Illini rank second in the Big Ten.

Illinois is coming off its second-straight Braggin' Rights win, 80-77 over Missouri, last Sunday in St. Louis.

Illinois played four SEC teams during non-conference play, going 2-2 with wins over Mizzou and No. 23 Arkansas and losses to No. 1 Tennessee and No. 8 Alabama. The Illini met a fifth SEC opponent prior to the season, facing Ole Miss in a charity exhibition game.

Following the 2024 Elite Eight appearance and Big Ten Tournament Championship, Illinois has a dramatically different roster this season. The program returns just one rotation player – last year's ninth-leading scorer Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn – and returns just 2.9% of its minutes, 2.2% of its points, and 2.0% of its rebounds overall

Newcomers to the Illini roster have accounted for 93% of the team's scoring so far (856 of 920 total points), with UI freshmen accounting for 40.4% of those points (372).

Illinois' top three scorers and rebounders are all in their first year of collegiate basketball. Freshman G Kasparas Jakucionis ranks first in scoring (16.5 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.7 rpg). Sophomore C Tomislav Ivisic nearly averages a double-double at 13.9 points and team-leading 9.7 rebounds per game. Freshman F Will Riley is the Illini's No. 3 scorer at 12.5 points per game. And Freshman F Morez Johnson Jr. ranks second on the team at 6.4 rebounds per game.  

Only 11 games into his college career, Jakucionis already has six 20-point games, just two away from equaling the Illini all-time record for 20-point games by a freshman. Cory Bradford (1998-99) set the current mark with eight, followed by Ayo Dosunmu (2018-19) and Kiwane Garris (1993-94) at seven each. 

Jakucionis is the fifth freshman of the Underwood Era to record at least five total 20-point games in his rookie season, joining Dosunmu (7 in 2018-19), Trent Frazier (5 in 2017-18), Giorgi Bezhanishvili (5 in 2018-19), and Kofi Cockburn (5 in 2019-20).

Jakucionis enters 2025 on pace to break the Illini freshman scoring average record of 15.9 ppg set by Kiwane Garris 31 years ago. 

Tomislav Ivisic is the No. 2 rebounder in the Big Ten at 9.7 rpg, trailing only Michigan's Danny Wolf (10.2).

Illinois currently ranks 11th in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (94.8), its highest ranking since the 2021 season and second-best ranking of the Underwood era.  

Illinois stands fourth nationally in effective field goal percentage defense (.415), ranking third in 3-point defense (.263) and 12th in 2-point defense (.426).

Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks among the NCAA leaders in: 3-point attempts per game (6th in NCAA, 32.1), free throw attempts per game (20th, 25.1), total rebounds per game (2nd, 45.3), defensive rebounds per game (1st; 32.0), offensive rebounds per game (45th, 13.3), field goal percentage defense (6th; .372), and 3-point percentage defense (5th; .262). The Illini also rank second in the Big Ten in rebounding margin (8th in NCAA; +11.4) and 3-pointers made per game (25th; 10.4).

According to KenPom, the Illini rank 11th nationally, and fourth among Power Conference programs, with a 3-point attempt rate (3-point attempts/total field goal attempts) of 51.1%. The Illini boast the best overall offensive efficiency rating (116.6) among the top 20 programs in 3-point attempt percentage. 

The Illini's scoring average of 83.6 ppg is the team's highest since the 1993-94 Illini also averaged 84.0 ppg. 

Illinois' scoring margin of +17.9 points per game is on pace for the No. 2 mark in program history. The 1942-43 Illini outscored opponents by 20.6 points per game. The team's top mark since 1960 is +15.9 set in 2004-05.

Illinois ranks second nationally in rebounding at 45.3 boards per game, on pace for the program's best average in 53 seasons, since posting 48.0 rebounds per contest in 1971-72. The Orange and Blue have outrebounded their opponents in 10 of 11 games this season. 

Illinois is the winningest team in the Big Ten since 2019-20, registering a 70-32 (.686) mark in league play. And when including the conference tournament, the Illini have a league-best 76 wins during this time span. The Illini won the 2024 Big Ten Tournament championship as the #2 seed, captured the regular season championship in 2022, and led the conference in wins while adding a B1G Tournament crown in 2021. 

Head coach Brad Underwood has also led Illinois to the Big Ten's best road record since the start of the 2019-20 season. During that span, the Illini are 29-22 (.569) in conference road matchups, and have finished .500 or better in four of the last five seasons.