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No. 8 Illinois (5-1) continues its stretch of four games in 10 days across three different cities, hosting UT Rio Grande Valley on Monday night at State Farm Center (7 p.m. CT/BTN).
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This is Illinois' lone one-day prep of the regular season, following Saturday's 98-58 win over Long Island.Â
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Monday marks Illinois' sixth home date among its first seven games to start the season. The Illini will not play at State Farm Center for nearly three weeks following the UTRGV game, returning Dec. 13 vs. Nebraska.Â
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Illinois has won all five of its home games thus far by outscoring opponents by an average of 32.8 points. The Illini are shooting 52% at State Farm Center, including nearly 36% from 3-point range
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Illinois carries a seven-game home winning streak into Monday's game vs. UTRGV. Under head coach Brad Underwood, the Illini have won 34 consecutive nonconference home games against unranked opponents.
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Illinois is surrounding its early season home slate with three premier neutral-site games against Top 25 teams. The Illini played #11 Alabama on Wednesday in Chicago, drawing 17,775 fans to the United Center. Following the UTRGV game, Illinois will head to New York City to face #3 UConn at Madison Square Garden on Black Friday (Nov. 28). The run concludes on Dec. 6 in Nashville against #20 Tennessee at Bridgestone Arena.Â
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Illinois moved up six spots to No. 8 in both the AP Top 25 and the coaches poll, the team's highest November ranking since reaching No. 5 on Nov. 30, 2020. The Illini have been ranked in the AP Top 25 in each of the last seven seasons under Brad Underwood.Â
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After leading the Big Ten in scoring last season (83.6 ppg), Illinois is currently averaging 95.8 points. If able to maintain this early pace, it would surpass the program's all-time scoring average of 92.2 ppg set in 1964-65.Â
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Illinois' total of 575 points are its most through six games since the 1993-94 season (604). The Illini have opened with six straight games of 80+ points for the first time since the 1988-89 Flyin' Illini did so in each of its first 12 contests.Â
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Illinois leads the Big Ten in rebound margin (+17.8 rpg) and total rebounds per game (45.8 rpg), ranking third and 16th, respectively, in the NCAA. Illinois also commits the fewest fouls in the league (12.5 avg). The Illini rank second in the conference in scoring offense (95.8 ppg) and scoring margin (26.7 ppg).
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Illinois is No. 7 in the kenpom rankings with a net rating of +26.95. The Illini feature the No. 6-rated offensive (123.7) and the No. 17 defensive rating (96.7) in the country. The Illini have had an overall kenpom rating of 35th or better each of the last six years under Brad Underwood with a high of No. 4 (2020-21). Illinois posted consecutive top-20 rankings in 2023-24 (10th) and 2024-25 (17th).
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The Fighting Illini offense features six players – Kylan Boswell (17.8 ppg), Andrej Stojakovic (17.4), Keaton Wagler (16.2), David Mirkovic (16.0), Tomislav Ivisic (11.0), and Ben Humrichous (10.0) – averaging double-figures scoring, tied for the second-most in the nation.Â
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Junior G Andrej Stojakovic transferred to Illinois with a reputation as a prolific scorer, and he has started off strong, averaging 17.4 points on 57.4% shooting. Stojakovic has three 20-point performances over the last four games, highlighted by a season-high 26 points vs. #11 Alabama. Â
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Freshman F David Mirkovic is the only freshman in the nation averaging at least 16 points and 11 rebounds per contest (through Nov. 22).
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Mirkovic leads the Big Ten and is among the national top 10 in several categories, ranking first in the conference with four double-doubles (fifth in NCAA), 8.5 defensive rebounds per game (sixth), and 68 total rebounds (seventh). Mirkovic is also second in the Big Ten and ninth in the nation with a rebounding average of 11.3 rpg.Â
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Senior G Kylan Boswell ranks third in the conference in total points (107) and 14th in scoring average (17.8 ppg). He has posted 14 consecutive games in double-figures scoring and is now the Illini's active leader with 1,045 career points (537 at Illinois) and 30 career double-digit scoring games in Orange and Blue.Â
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Illinois is 1-1 this season vs. Top 25 teams, with a home win over No. 11 Texas Tech (81-77) on Nov. 11, and a narrow 90-86 loss to #11 Alabama on Nov. 18 at Chicago's United Center. With nonconference contests remaining against #3 UConn and #20 Tennessee, plus six ranked Big Ten teams, the Illini are currently projected to play as many as nine ranked games during the regular season.Â
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Expectations are high once again in Champaign, with the Illini returning three starters from last year's team that won 22 games, advanced to the NCAA Round of 32, and finished the year ranked 17th in kenpom.
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Illinois is the winningest team in Big Ten Conference play since 2019-20, with 81 league wins over the previous six seasons, tied with Purdue. During that stretch, the Illini lead the conference with 34 road wins in league play. When including the conference tournament, Illinois is also tied with Purdue for the most total wins against Big Ten opponents over this span with 88.Â
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Monday's matchup vs. UT Rio Grande Valley, originally known as Texas-Pan American, is the sixth in the series. Â
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Illinois has won all five previous games, with four coming in Champaign, including the most recent meeting when head coach Brad Underwood led the 14th-ranked Illini to a 94-85 win on Nov. 26,2021.Â
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The series began with games in three consecutive years – home wins in 1997 and 1999, and a road victory in 1998 – under former Illini head coach Lon Kruger, who began his college head coaching career at Texas-Pan American from 1982-86.Â
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Bruce Weber, who will be on the call of Monday night's game for Big Ten Network, also led the Illini to a win over UTPA during the 2005-06 season. Current UTRGV assistant coach Dustin Yoder was a student manager at Illinois for three seasons from 2008-11, serving as Weber's head manager his senior year.
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Illinois is a combined 11-0 all-time against the current 12-team membership of the Southland Conference.Â
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Illinois head coach Brad Underwood is a combined 46-1 vs. the Southland's current membership, including a 2-0 mark at Illinois with wins over Nicholls and UTRGV. As head coach at Stephen F. Austin, Underwood went 53-1 in league play en route to three consecutive Southland regular-season titles and Southland Tournament championships from 2013-14 to 2015-16.Â
