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Illinois closes its Pacific Northwest road trip following Thursday's 109-77 win at No. 9 Oregon with a Sunday afternoon matchup at Washington (3 p.m. CT, BTN).
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Sunday's game vs. the Huskies is the second contest of a stretch for Illinois with four of six games on the road. Illinois is 1-1 in true road games this season, and 3-2 away from home.
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Illinois has won back-to-back games by 30+ points, defeating Chicago State, 117-64, at home on Dec. 29 before an historic 109-77 victory at No. 9 Oregon on Thursday, the program's first road win over a top-10 opponent since March 6, 2021 at No. 7 Ohio State.
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Illinois' 32-point road win over the Ducks was the largest margin of victory ever by a road team over an AP Top-10 opponent, and the largest road win in Illinois program history against any top-25 opponent.
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The 109 points scored vs. Oregon are the second-most any team has ever scored in a regulation road game against a top-10 opponent, trailing only Kansas State's 116 at Texas in 2023. Illinois' 109 points are also the most ever scored by a road team at Oregon.
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The Illini became the first Big Ten team since Feb. 9, 1989, to record 100+ points in a Top-10 road win (No. 10 Michigan defeated No. 8 Iowa, 108-107).
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Illinois is 3-2 against ranked teams this season, with wins over No. 19 Arkansas, No. 20 Wisconsin, and No. 9 Oregon. The Illini's three top-25 victories are tied for second most in the nation, one behind Auburn (4).
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Illinois leads the Big Ten in the latest NCAA NET rankings at No. 5, jumping six spots following Thursday night's road win at No. 9-ranked Oregon, which entered the contest with a NET rating of 12.
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Brad Underwood has led the Illini program to Top-25 rankings in six consecutive seasons. Illinois has been ranked for four weeks so far this year, currently at No. 22.
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Illinois' victory at Oregon marked the Underwood's 153rd at Illinois. He ranks fourth on the program's all-time coaching wins list.
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Six Illini scored in double figures at Oregon, including sophomores Jake Davis (12) and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (11), who scored all 23 of their combined points in the first half to help the Illini build a 45-38 lead at the break. It marked Davis' first double-digit effort as an Illini and just the fourth in two seasons for Gibbs-Lawhorn.
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Junior guard Kylan Boswell recorded the seventh triple-double in Illinois history and fifth of the Underwood era against Chicago State, tallying 18 points, career-high 10 rebounds, and career-high 10 assists.
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Over the last five games, Boswell is averaging 15.6 points (78), 6.2 rebounds (31), and 5.2 assists (26).
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Point guard Kasparas Jakucionis scored 20+ points in six straight games from Nov. 25-Dec. 22, shattering the Illini freshman record for consecutive 20-point games (previous record was two).
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Jakucionis became 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.
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While his 20-point game streak was snapped with a 14-point outing vs. Chicago State, Jakucionis is still averaging 20.1 points (161) over the last eight games, knocking down an average of 2.9 threes per game (23) on 48.9% from 3-point range (23-47) along with 88.9% from the foul line (40-45).
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Tomislav Ivisic scored a career-and game-high 23-points vs. Chicago State, leading the team in scoring for the third time this seasons (second to Kasparas Jakucionis' six).
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Ivisic has recorded six double-doubles through 13 games, ranking second in the Big Ten behind Northwestern's Brooks Barnhizer for most in the Big Ten this season, tied for 16th in the NCAA overall and first among power conference underclassmen.
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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
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Newcomers to the Illini roster have accounted for 92.4% of the team's scoring so far (1,059 of 1,146 total points), with UI freshmen accounting for 41.1% of those points (435).
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Illinois' top three scorers and rebounders are all in their first year of collegiate basketball. Freshman G Kasparas Jakucionis ranks first in scoring (16.3 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.6 rpg). Sophomore C Tomislav Ivisic nearly averages a double-double at 14.2 points and team-leading 9.2 rebounds per game. Freshman F Will Riley is the Illini's No. 3 scorer at 12.0 points per game. And Freshman F Morez Johnson Jr. ranks second on the team at 6.2 rebounds per game.
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Only 13 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 Illini mark with eight, followed by Ayo Dosunmu (2018-19) and Kiwane Garris (1993-94) at seven each.
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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).
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Jakucionis, at 16.3 ppg, is on pace to break the Illini freshman scoring average record of 15.9 ppg set by Kiwane Garris 31 years ago.
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Freshman Morez Johnson Jr. is averaging 7.0 points (21) and 6.3 rebounds (19) over the Illini's three-game win streak vs. Mizzou, vs. Chicago State, and at No. 9 Oregon. Johnson has recorded five blocks in his last two outings, with three rejections vs. CSU and two more against the Ducks.
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Tomislav Ivisic is the No. 3 rebounder in the Big Ten at 9.2 rpg, trailing Michigan's Danny Wolf (10.2) and Indiana's Oumar Ballo (9.4).
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Illinois currently ranks seventh in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (93.5), its highest ranking since also reaching seventh during the 2021 season, and the second-best number of the Underwood era (88.9 in 2021).
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Illinois stands fifth nationally in effective field goal percentage defense (.422), ranking sixth in 3-point defense (.272) and 12th in 2-point defense (.429).
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Illinois leads the Big Ten in eight statistical categories, with the following NCAA rankings: defensive rebounds per game (1st; 32.4), total rebounds per game (2nd, 45.2), rebound margin (4th, 12.4), 3-point attempts per game (7th in NCAA, 31.9), 3-point percentage defense (9th; .272), field goal percentage defense (9th; .377), 3-pointers made per game (10th; 11.2), and offensive rebounds per game (60th; 12.9)
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According to KenPom, the Illini rank 12th nationally, and fourth among Power Conference programs, with a 3-point attempt rate (3-point attempts/total field goal attempts) of 50.0%.
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The Illini's scoring average of 88.2 ppg is the team's highest in 60 years since the 1964-65 team posted a school-record mark of 92.2 ppg.
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Illinois' scoring margin of +21.7 points per game is on pace for the top mark in program history, surpassing the 1942-43 Illini, which outscored opponents by 20.6 points per game. The team's top mark since 1960 is +15.9 set in 2004-05.
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Illinois ranks second nationally in rebounding at 45.2 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 12 of 13 games this season.
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Illinois is the winningest team in the Big Ten since 2019-20, registering a 71-32 (.689) mark in league play. And when including the conference tournament, the Illini have a league-best 77 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.
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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 30-22 (.577) in conference road matchups, and have finished .500 or better in four of the last five seasons.
