| PROBABLE STARTERS (Based on previous game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
32 |
Kasparas Jakucionis |
6-6 |
205 |
Fr. |
14.4 |
6.5 |
6.1 |
1st among NCAA freshman in assists/game |
| G |
4 |
Kylan Boswell |
6-2 |
205 |
Jr. |
9.0 |
3.8 |
3.4 |
Season-highs 18 points vs. #19 Arkansas |
| G |
22 |
Tre White |
6-7 |
210 |
Jr. |
7.1 |
5.0 |
0.8 |
Season-high 16 points vs. Little Rock |
| F |
3 |
Ben Humrichous |
6-9 |
225 |
Gr. |
9.3 |
3.5 |
1.0 |
2.4 3-pointers/game (5th in Big Ten) |
| C |
13 |
Tomislav Ivisic |
7-1 |
255 |
So. |
16.1 |
9.3 |
1.8 |
5 double-doubles (6th in NCAA / 1st in Big Ten) |
| OFF THE BENCH |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| F |
0 |
Carey Booth |
6-10 |
215 |
So. |
2.3 |
1.4 |
0.1 |
Four of five field goals are 3-pointers |
| G |
2 |
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn |
6-1 |
185 |
So. |
6.4 |
1.9 |
0.1 |
Career-high 21 points vs EIU |
| G |
5 |
AJ Redd |
6-3 |
170 |
Jr. |
0.5 |
0.8 |
0.3 |
Former team manager turned walkon |
| F |
7 |
Will Riley |
6-8 |
195 |
Fr. |
15.0 |
4.4 |
1.9 |
.429 3FG% (5th In Big Ten) |
| F |
15 |
Jake Davis |
6-6 |
205 |
So. |
1.3 |
1.0 |
0.3 |
Season-high 4 rebounds vs. UMES |
| F |
21 |
Morez Johnson Jr. |
6-9 |
255 |
Fr. |
5.5 |
7.0 |
0.3 |
2.5 offensive rebounds/game (5th in Big Ten) |
| G |
24 |
Keaton Kutcher |
6-2 |
195 |
r-Jr. |
0.5 |
0.3 |
0.3 |
Scored first Illinois points vs. SIUE |
| REDSHIRT (Averages from 2023-24 season) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G/F |
20 |
Ty Rodgers |
6-6 |
210 |
Jr. |
6.2 |
5.3 |
2.0 |
Started all 38 games last season |
| F |
31 |
Jason Jakstys |
6-10 |
210 |
Fr. |
-- |
-- |
-- |
Third-Team All-State |
Career Record: 258-117 (.688), 12th year
At Illinois: 149-90 (.623), 8th year
Big Ten: 80-59 (.576)
Series History vs. Wisconsin
All-Time Record / Streak: Illinois leads, 118-89 / Illinois W8
Last Meeting: #13 Illinois 93, Wisconsin 87 (3/17/2024 at Minneapolis // BTT Championship)
Record in Champaign / Streak: Illinois leads, 71-28 / Illinois W3
Last Meeting in Champaign: Illinois 79, #14 Wisconsin 69 (1/7/2023)
Underwood vs. Wisconsin: 8-4
Opening Tips
-
The Fighting Illini close out the early-December window of Big Ten play on Tuesday night, hosting the #20-ranked Wisconsin Badgers at State Farm Center. Illinois is 5-0 at home this season.
-
Illinois is No. 12 in the NCAA NET rankings through games played Dec. 8. The Illini rank first in the Big Ten.
-
Tuesday's matchup vs. #20 Wisconsin is the 208th in the series that dates back to 1905-06. Illinois has played more games against Wisconsin than any opponent in program history.
-
The Illini have won eight straight games in the series, most recently defeating the Badgers to claim the 2024 Big Ten Tournament Championship at Target Center in Minneapolis last March. Illinois' current streak is its second-longest in the series (trailing only a 16-game win streak from 1981-89).
-
Illinois' matchup vs. #20 Wisconsin is the first of back-to-back games against ranked opponents this week. Illinois also hosts #1 Tennessee on Saturday (4:30 p.m. CT/FOX) at State Farm Center.
-
Following Tuesday's contest vs. UW, the Illini play three consecutive non-conference games to close out December - vs. #1 Tennessee, Braggin' Rights vs. Missouri in St. Louis, and home vs. Chicago State
-
before returning to Big Ten play with their first B1G trip to the Pacific Northwest to face conference newcomers #12 Oregon and Washington.
-
Illinois is tied with Purdue as the winningest teams in the Big Ten since 2019-20, registering a 69-32 (.683) mark in league play. And when including the conference tournament, the Illini and Boilermakers each have a league-best 75 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.
-
Head coach
Brad Underwood has led the Fighting Illini program to AP Top-25 rankings in six consecutive seasons. The Illini are receiving votes in the latest AP and coaches polls released Monday.
-
The Illini rank third in the nation with a scoring margin of +23.8. Illinois' 13-point win vs. #19 Arkansas was the largest by an unranked Illinois team over a top-25 foe under head coach
Brad Underwood. Before the matchup with the Razorbacks, the Illini were coming off of the team's two largest victory margins of the season – vs. UMES (+47, 87-40) and vs. Little Rock (+58, 92-34).
-
Illinois' Thanksgiving Day victory over No. 19 Arkansas marked the 149th victory of
Brad Underwood's Illini tenure. In his eighth season in Champaign, Underwood now ranks fifth on the Illinois all-time coaching wins list, and is just two victories away from a tie for fourth place.
-
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 92% of the team's scoring so far (635 of 690 total points), with UI freshmen accounting for 43.9% of those points (279).
-
Kasparas Jakucionis has scored 20+ points in three consecutive games, becoming the first Illini freshman to do so in program history. Jakucionis is the fifth freshman of the
Brad Underwood Era to record at least three total 20-point games in his rookie season, joining Ayo Dosunmu (7 in 2018-19), Trent Frazier (5 in 2017-18), Giorgi Bezhanishvili (5 in 2018-19), and Kofi Cockburn (5 in 2019-20).
-
Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks among the top NCAA leaders in: 3-point attempts per game (4th in NCAA, 33.9), 3-pointers made per game (6th, 11.5), total rebounds per game (1st, 47.4), defensive rebounds per game (1st; 34.0), rebound margin (2nd, +13.4), offensive rebounds per game (51st, 13.4), 3-point percentage defense (4th; .251), field goal percentage defense (7th; .366), and blocks per game (20th, 5.4). The Illini also rank third nationally and second in the Big Ten in scoring margin (+23.8) trailing only Tennessee (+26.8) and Big Ten foe Maryland (+24.4)
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KenPom.com ranks the Illini 17th in adjusted efficiency rating (+21.82). Illinois is one of 11 programs nationally to rank in the top 30 in both defensive efficiency (17th, 94.5) and offensive efficiency (28th, 116.3)
-
According to KenPom, the Illini rank 11th nationally, and second among Power Conference programs, with a 3-point attempt rate (3-point attempts/total field goal attempts) of 52.2%. The Illini boast the best overall offensive efficiency rating (116.3) among the top 20 programs in 3-point attempt percentage.
-
The Fighting Illini's scoring average of 86.3 ppg ranks as the team's highest since the 1988-89 Flyin' Illini averaged 86.4 points per game.
-
Illinois' scoring margin of +23.8 points per game is on pace for the program record. 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.
Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
