University of Illinois
Penn State
#13 Illini Ride 4-Game Streak Into Penn State Matchup Wednesday at State Farm Center
January 7, 2025 | Men's Basketball
PREVIEW
| #13 ILLINOIS (11-3, 3-1 B1G) vs. Penn State (12-3, 2-2) | |
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| Date | Time | Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2025 | 8 p.m. CT |
| Location | Champaign, Ill. | State Farm Center |
| Buy Tickets | FightingIllini.com |
| TV | BTN (Jeff Levering, Shon Morris, & Andy Katz) |
| Live Stream | foxsports.com/live/btn/ | FOX Sports App |
| Radio | Busey Bank Illini Sports Network | Varsity Network App | SiriusXM 372, SXM App 372 |
| Live Stats | Statbroadcast.com |
| Printable Notes | Illinois | Penn State |
| Pregame Press Conference | Coach Underwood (Jan. 7) |
| 2024-25 Stats | Illinois | Penn State |
| Record Book | Illinois |
| Shop | Online Store | Auctions |
| Social Media | @IlliniMBB  | #Illini | @IlliniMBB  | Facebook  | YouTube  |
| PROBABLE STARTERS (Based on previous game) | |||||||||
| Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | PPG | RPG | APG | Note |
| G | 32 | Kasparas Jakucionis | 6-6 | 205 | Fr. | 16.4 | 5.6 | 5.4 | 19.9 ppg last 8 games; six 20+ point games |
| G | 4 | Kylan Boswell | 6-2 | 205 | Jr. | 11.7 | 4.6 | 3.9 | Triple-Double vs. Chicago St. (18 p, 10 r, 10 a) |
| G | 22 | Tre White | 6-7 | 210 | Jr. | 10.7 | 5.5 | 1.0 | Double-double (20 p, 11 r) at #9 Oregon |
| F | 3 | Ben Humrichous | 6-9 | 225 | Gr. | 8.1 | 3.0 | 1.0 | 18 pts (4 three-pointers) at #9 Oregon |
| C | 13 | Tomislav Ivisic | 7-1 | 255 | So. | 13.8 | 9.1 | 1.6 | 6 double-doubles (3rd in B1G / 20th in NCAA) |
| OFF THE BENCH | |||||||||
| Pos. | No. | Name | Ht. | Wt. | Yr. | PPG | RPG | APG | Note |
| F | 0 | Carey Booth | 6-10 | 215 | So. | 1.5 | 1.4 | 0.1 | Four of five field goals are 3-pointers |
| G | 2 | Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn | 6-1 | 185 | So. | 6.8 | 1.5 | 0.3 | 10.5 ppg on 73% FGs last four games |
| G | 5 | AJ Redd | 6-3 | 170 | Jr. | 0.5 | 0.8 | 0.2 | Former team manager turned walkon |
| F | 7 | Will Riley | 6-8 | 195 | Fr. | 11.4 | 3.7 | 1.4 | 5 games of 10+ points and 5+ rebounds |
| F | 15 | Jake Davis | 6-6 | 205 | So. | 2.2 | 1.3 | 0.3 | Season-high 12 pts (2-2 3FGs) at #9 Oregon |
| F | 21 | Morez Johnson Jr. | 6-9 | 255 | Fr. | 5.1 | 6.1 | 0.2 | 6.3 ppg, 6.0 rpg, & 83% FG last 4 games |
| G | 24 | Keaton Kutcher | 6-2 | 195 | r-Jr. | 0.8 | 0.2 | 0.2 | First Illini three-pointer vs. Chicago St. |
| 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 |
Head Coach Brad Underwood
Career Record: 263-118 (.690), 12th year
At Illinois: 154-91 (.629), 8th year
Big Ten: 83-59 (.585)
Series History vs. Penn State
All-Time Record / Streak: Illinois leads, 32-23 / Penn State W-4
Last Meeting: Penn State 90, #12 Illinois 89 (2/21/2024 in University Park, Pa.)
Record in Champaign / Streak: Illinois leads, 16-9 / Penn State W-1
Last Meeting in Champaign: Penn State 74, #17 Illinois 59 (12/10/2022)
Underwood vs. Penn State: 4-7
Opening Tips
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Illinois returns from its Pacific Northwest road swing, which included wins at No. 9 Oregon and Washington, to host Penn State Wednesday (8 p.m. CT, BTN) in the first of back-to-back home games this week.
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The matchup vs. the Nittany Lions is 13th-ranked Illinois' first home game in 10 days, since a 117-64 blowout of Chicago State on Dec. 29.
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Illinois is 7-1 at home this season, including a 1-0 mark at State Farm Center in Big Ten play following the team's 86-80 win over No. 20 Wisconsin on Dec. 10.
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Illinois is riding a season-high four-game win streak. Since a 66-64 defeat to No. 1 Tennessee on Dec. 14, the Illini earned a Braggin' Rights win over rival Missouri in St. Louis, posted a 53-point home win over Chicago State, recorded the largest road win over an AP Top-10 program in college basketball history with last Thursday's 109-77 win at No. 9 Oregon, and pulled out a hard-fought 81-77 win at Washington on Sunday.
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Point guard Kasparas Jakucionis was named Big Ten Co-Freshman of the Week on Monday. Jakucionis led the Illini to three wins during the nomination period, averaging a team-best 16.0 points and 5.3 assists along with 5.0 rebounds, while shooting 60% from the field, 39% from 3-point range, and making all seven free throw attempts.
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Illinois 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 third most in the nation, behind Alabama and Auburn with four each.
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Illinois leads the Big Ten in the latest NCAA NET rankings at No. 7.
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Brad Underwood has led the Illini program to Top-25 rankings in six consecutive seasons. Illinois has been ranked for five weeks this season, and is currently at No. 13, its highest ranking of the year.
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Illinois' win at Washington was Underwood's 154th 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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During the Fighting Illini's four-game win streak, Dra Gibbs Lawhorn is averaging 10.5 points per game while shooting 73.1% (19-26) from the field.
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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 six games, Boswell is averaging 15.3 points (92), 5.8 rebounds (35), and 4.5 assists (27).
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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 19.9 points (179) over the last nine games, knocking down an average of 2.8 threes per game (25) on 46.3% from 3-point range (25-54) along with 89.9% from the foul line (44-49).
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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' seven).
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Ivisic has recorded six double-doubles through 14 games, ranking third in the Big Ten, tied for 20th 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 92.3% of the team's scoring so far (1,132 of 1,227 total points), with UI freshmen accounting for 40.7% of those points (461).
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Four of the Illinois' top scorers and rebounders are all in their first year of collegiate basketball. Freshman G Kasparas Jakucionis ranks first in scoring (16.4 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.6 rpg). Sophomore C Tomislav Ivisic nearly averages a double-double at 13.8 points (second on team) and a team-leading 9.1 rebounds per game. Freshman F Will Riley is the Illini's No. 4 scorer at 11.4 points per game. And Freshman F Morez Johnson Jr. ranks second on the team at 6.1 rebounds per game.
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Only 14 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 16.4 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 6.3 points (25) and 6.0 rebounds (24) over the Illini's four-game win streak vs. Mizzou, vs. Chicago State, at No. 9 Oregon, and at Washington. Johnson has recorded five blocks during that stretch with three rejections vs. Chicago State and two more against the Ducks.
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Tomislav Ivisic is the No. 3 rebounder in the Big Ten at 9.1 rpg, trailing Michigan's Danny Wolf (10.4) and Indiana's Oumar Ballo (9.6).
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Illinois currently ranks 13th in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (93.6), its highest ranking since reaching seventh during the 2021 season, and the third-best number of the Underwood era (88.9 in 2021 and 93.3 in 2022).
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Illinois stands sixth nationally in effective field goal percentage defense (.428), ranking 11th in 2-point defense (.431) and 17th in 3-point defense (.282).
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Illinois leads the Big Ten in eight statistical categories, with the following NCAA rankings: defensive rebounds per game (1st; 32.1), rebound margin (2nd, 12.4), total rebounds per game (3rd, 45.1), 3-point attempts per game (7th in NCAA, 31.5), field goal percentage defense (16th; .381), 3-point percentage defense (18th; .282), 3-pointers made per game (18th; 10.7), and offensive rebounds per game (52nd; 12.9).
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According to KenPom, the Illini rank 17th nationally, and fourth among Power Conference programs, with a 3-point attempt rate (3-point attempts/total field goal attempts) of 49.2%.
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The Illini's scoring average of 87.6 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 +20.4 points per game is on pace for the No. 2 mark in program history, just behind the 1942-43 team, 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 third nationally in rebounding at 45.1 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 13 of 14 games this season.
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Illinois is the winningest team in the Big Ten since 2019-20, registering a 72-32 (.692) mark in league play. And when including the conference tournament, the Illini have a league-best 78 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 32-22 (.593) in conference road matchups, and have finished .500 or better in four of the last five seasons.
