No. 13 Illinois Faces Nebraska Saturday in Big Ten Tournament Semifinals

#13 ILLINOIS (24-8, 14-6) vs. Nebraska (23-9, 12-8) // Big Ten Tournament Semifinal
Tournament Central	BigTen.org
Quarterfinals	vs. No. 3 seed Nebraska
Date | Time	Saturday, March 16, 2024 | 2:30 p.m. CT
Location	Minneapolis, Minn. | Target Center
Tickets	AXS.com
Broadcast	CBS (Ian Eagle, Bill Raftery, Grant Hill, & Tracy Wolfson)
Live Stream	CBSSports.com/watch/college-basketball
Radio	Busey Bank Illini Sports Network | Varsity Network App | SiriusXM 84, SXM App 84
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Printable Notes	Illinois
2023-24 Stats	Illinois | Nebraska | Big Ten
Record Book	Illinois
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Social Media	@IlliniMBB | #Illini | @IlliniMBB | Facebook | YouTube

Head Coach Brad Underwood

Career Record: 247-114 (.684), 11th year
At Illinois: 138-87 (.613), 7th year
Big Ten: 80-58 (.580)
Big Ten Tournament: 5-4 (.556)

Series History - BTT Semifinal vs. No. 3 Seed Nebraska

Series Record: Illinois leads 22-8
Series Streak: Illinois W-8
Record in the Big Ten Tournament: First meeting
Last Meeting in the Big Ten Tournament: N/A
Underwood vs. Nebraska: 9-2
This Year's Meeting: #14 Illinois 87, Nebraska 84  (Feb. 4 at Champaign)

Big Ten Tournament Notes

• Following a 77-74 comeback victory over Ohio State in the quarterfinals, No. 2 seed Illinois faces No. 3 seed Nebraska in the Big Ten Tournament (BTT) semifinals on Saturday afternoon (2:30 p.m. CT, CBS).
• Illinois is making its 14th all-time BTT semifinals appearance and first since 2021, when it defeated No. 3 seed Iowa. After advancing to the semifinal round in 12 of the first 13 BTT, the Illini are appearing in the semis for just the second time in the last 14 years.
• Illinois is 7-6 all-time in the BTT semifinals. 
• Illinois is 4-2 all-time in the BTT vs. the No. 3 seed, with its most recent meeting a victory over No. 3 seed Iowa in the 2021 semifinals. 
• Illinois is the No. 2 seed in the BTT for the fifth time. The Illini are 9-2 all-time as the No. 2 seed, winning championships in 2003 and 2021, and advancing to the semifinals in 1998, 2009 and now 2024.
• The Illini earned their third top-2 seed in the last four years, and their fourth double-bye in the last five seasons, under head coach Brad Underwood. 
• Illinois is 22-8 in BTT games when it is the higher (better) seed.
• Since 2020, Illinois' four double-byes as a top-4 seed in the Big Ten Tournament rank tied for first in the conference:
  • T1. ILLINOIS & Purdue, 4
  • T3. Michigan State, Northwestern, & Wisconsin, 2
• Illinois has the third-most all-time BTT wins with 32:
  • 1. Ohio State, 38    
  • 2. Michigan State, 35    
  • 3. ILLINOIS, 32
• Illinois has won three BTT championships (2003, 2005, 2021), tied for third-most in the league:     
  • 1. Michigan State, 6    
  • 2. Ohio State, 5    
  • T3. ILLINOIS, Iowa, Michigan & Wisconsin, 3
• Illinois is tied for the second-most BTT championship game appearances, advancing to the title game seven times:     
  • 1. Ohio State, 10    
  • T2. ILLINOIS, Michigan State & Wisconsin, 7
• Illinois has advanced to the BTT semifinals 14 times, the second-most semifinal appearances:     
  • 1. Michigan State, 16    
  • 2. ILLINOIS, 14    
  • T3. Ohio State & Wisconsin, 13

Opening Tips

• Illinois is ranked No. 13 in the latest AP poll, the team's 16th consecutive week inside the Top 25.
• Head coach Brad Underwood has led the Illini to the program's fifth-consecutive 20-win season. Illinois is one of only five teams nationally to record 20-win regular seasons each of the last five years, joined by Baylor, Gonzaga, Houston and San Diego State.
• Underwood is the second coach in Fighting Illini history to lead the program to five straight 20-win seasons, joining the legendary Lou Henson, who accomplished the feat nine years in a row from 1983 to 1991.
• Illinois' 23 regular-season wins were its most since the 2008-09 team also won 23 games before the postseason. 
• Illinois' current total of 24 wins are its most since the 2020-21 team went 24-7. Illinois' last 25-win season came in 2005-06, when seniors Dee Brown and James Augustine led the Illini to a 26-7 record. 
• Underwood led Illinois to a 14-6 mark in the Big Ten and has guided the Illini to 13+ Big Ten wins in four of the last five years with five straight winning records in conference play. 
• Illinois' 14th Big Ten victory this season gave Underwood three of the top five winningest B1G seasons in school history, and four of the top eight, including the top two.
• Illinois is the only program in the Big Ten to finish above .500 in league play every year since 2019-20. 
• Illinois opened the Big Ten Tournament with a NET ranking of 16. The Illini's quarterfinal win over Ohio State marked its 12th combined Quad 1 (5) and Quad 2 (7) victory of the season, tied for 12th most nationally.
• The Illini were projected as a No. 4 seed when the NCAA Men's Basketball Committee released its initial top 16 teams on Feb. 17. In Joe Lunardi's latest bracketology, the Illini are a No. 3 seed.
• Illinois is the Big Ten's winningest team in conference play since the start of 2019-20. Through the end of the 2023-24 regular season, the Illini are 69-31 (.690) in B1G games over the last five seasons. The Illini also boast the Big Ten's best road record, 29-21 (.580) during that stretch. 
• Illinois' 69 wins in Big Ten play ank as the most in school history over a five-year stretch.
• Terrence Shannon Jr. leads the Illini in scoring at 21.6 points per game, the program's highest single-season scoring average in 51 years. 
• Illinois is fourth in the country in offensive efficiency (124.3), its highest output of the Kenpom era, ahead of the 2005 season when the Illini's NCAA runner-up team had the nation's No. 3 offense with a 122.3 effiency rating. The Illini are 17-3 on the season when scoring 80 or more points this season.  
• Illinois' scoring average of 83.7 points (12th in the NCAA) is the team's highest since 1988-89 Flyin' Illini (86.4 ppg).
• Illinois has topped 85 points 17 times, including in 11 of its last 16 games. The Illini are 15-2 this season when scoring at least 85.
• The Illini average 41.4 rebounds per game to lead the Big Ten and rank sixth nationally. The team has outrebounded its opponents in 23 of 32 games and is 20-3 when winning the battle on the glass. 
• The Illini's 41.4 rebounds per game is the team's best single-season mark since 1972-73 (44.4 rpg).  
• Illinois is 14-2 this season when it records an offensive rebound rate of at least 35%.
• Illinois is 14-0 when holding opponents to less than one point per possession.

The B1G's Best

• Illinois is the winningest team in the Big Ten over the last five years, with a 69-31 league record since the start of the 2019-20 season. The Illini finished second in this year's standings, won the regular season championship in 2022, led the conference in wins while adding a B1G Tournament crown in 2021, finished one game back of the title in 2020, and placed fifth in 2023:
  • 1. Illinois - 69
  • 2. Purdue - 68
  • 3. Wisconsin - 59
  • 4. Iowa - 58
• Illinois' 29 Big Ten road wins over the last five years also lead the conference:
  • 1. Illinois - 29
  • 2. Purdue -  26
  • 3. Wisconsin - 24
  • 4. Iowa - 20 

Every Day Guys Exclusive:

Read the latest feature stories on the Fighting Illini men's basketball team. 

• March 13: 'Everybody's Gonna Remember Me for How I Treated Everybody': Rodgers Brings Winning Experience, Humble Personality to Illinois
• Feb. 16: Playing the Right Way: Domask Makes Most of Lone Season at Illinois, Impacts Winning in Final Collegiate Campaign
• Jan. 10: 'I Just Wanted to be Different': Hawkins' Legacy Grows in Fourth Year With Program
• Dec. 7: Harmon Takes Long Road to Illinois in Final Year of Eligibility
• Nov. 30: 'I Owed That Sacrifice to Everybody': Goode Finds, Establishes Role in Third Season at Illinois
• Oct. 26: 'Now or Never': Hawkins, Shannon Gear Up for 'Last Dance' at Illinois
• Oct. 19: Every Day Guys: How Three Words Became Engrained in Illinois' Team Culture, Identity

Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)