#13 Illini Open Big Ten Play Tuesday Night at Ohio State

#13 ILLINOIS (7-2, 0-0) at Ohio State (7-1, 1-0)
Date | Time	Tuesday, Dec. 9, 2025 | 6:30 p.m. CT
Location	Columbus, Ohio | Value City Arena
Buy Tickets	TicketMaster.com
TV	Peacock (John Fanta & Brendan Haywood)
Live Stream	PeacockTV.com | Peacock App (Subscription Info)
Radio	Busey Bank Illini Sports Network | Varsity Network App | SiriusXM 85, SXM APP
Live Stats	Sidearm
Printable Notes	Illinois | Ohio State
Pregame Press Conference	Coach Underwood (Dec. 8)
2025-26 Stats	Illinois | Ohio State
Record Book	Illinois
Shop	Online Store | Auctions
Social Media	@IlliniMBB | #Illini | @IlliniMBB | Facebook | YouTube

Head Coach Brad Underwood

Career Record: 281-130 (.684), 13th year
At Illinois: 172-103 (.625), 9th year
Big Ten: 92-66 (.580)

Series History vs. Ohio State

All-Time Record / Streak: Illinois leads 112-82 / Illinois W-3
Last Meeting: #18 Illinois 87, Ohio State 79 (Feb. 2, 2025 in Champaign)
Record in Columbus / Streak: Ohio State leads 50-44 / Illinois W-1
Underwood vs. Ohio State: 7-6

OPENING TIPS

• A charter member of the Big Ten Conference, No. 13 Illinois begins its 121st season of league play on Tuesday night at Ohio State. Illinois opens B1G play on the road for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons.  
• Tuesday's matchup with Ohio State is the 195th in the series that dates back 111 years to the 1914-15 season. Illinois leads 112-82 and has won six of the last eight meetings, overall. The Illini are 44-50 vs. the Buckeyes in Columbus with wins in three of their last five trips – including two of the last three – to Value City Arena. 
• The Illini are coming off a 75-62 victory on Saturday vs. No. 13 Tennessee at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville. Head coach Brad Underwood has led Illinois to 29 wins over top-25 opponents since 2019-20. This is tied for ninth-most in the NCAA during that span. 20 of those wins have come in ranked-vs.-ranked matchups. 
• The Fighting Illini offense features five players averaging double figures in scoring – Kylan Boswell (17.0 ppg), Andrej Stojakovic (14.9), David Mirkovic (13.8), Keaton Wagler (13.8), and Tomislav Ivisic (11.7) – tied for the most in the nation. 
• This is Illinois' fourth game away from home this season, and its first true road test. Illinois is 6-0 at State Farm Center, having won each home game with an average scoring margin of +30.0, and is 1-2 in neutral-site matchups with losses to No. 11 Alabama in Chicago (United Center) and No. 5 UConn in New York City (Madison Square Garden) before Saturday's 75-62 triumph over No. 13 Tennessee in Nashville. 
• Illinois is ranked No. 13 in both the AP poll the coaches poll, and has reached as high as No. 8 on Nov. 17. The Illini have been ranked in the AP Top 25 in each of the last seven seasons under Brad Underwood. 
• Illinois entered 2025-26 as 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.
• Illinois enters Tuesday's game having won three straight Big Ten regular-season games dating back to last year. The Illini closed out the 2024-25 conference slate with home wins over Iowa (81-61) and No. 18 Purdue (88-80) surrounding a 93-73 road win at No. 15 Michigan. Illinois has also won three straight Big Ten games against unranked opponents. 
• Tuesday's contest vs. the Buckeyes is the first of two early-season Big Ten games on the Illini schedule. Saturday, the Illini are also slated to host No. 23 Nebraska at State Farm Center. The team will close out its nonconference schedule with the annual McBride Homes Braggin' Rights game vs. Missouri, Dec. 22 at the Enterprise Center in St. Louis, before hosting Southern on Dec. 29 in Champaign.
• Illinois is No. 13 in the NCAA NET rankings through games played Dec. 7, the fourth-best rating in the Big Ten.  
• After leading the Big Ten in scoring last season (83.6 ppg), Illinois is currently averaging 88.7 points. At this early pace, the Illini would become the third team in program history to average 88+ points per game behind the 1964-65 (92.2 ppg) and 1955-56 (90.7) teams. 
• The Illini opened this season with seven straight games of 80+ points. It marked the most such games to open a campaign since the 1988-89 Flyin' Illini scored 80+ in each of their first 12 contests. 
• As a team, Illinois ranks among the top three in the Big Ten, and among the top programs nationally in nine categories: The team is second in the B1G with 13.6 fouls per game (seventh in NCAA), 43.0 rebounds per game (17th), a +19.3 scoring margin (19th), 29.44 defensive rebounds per game (25th), and 9.8 turnovers per game (25th). Illinois is third in the Big Ten with a +10.8 rebound margin (17th in NCAA), 5.6 blocks per game (17th), a scoring average of 88.7 points per game (26th), and a free-throw percentage of .770 (31st).  
• Illinois is No. 11 in the kenpom rankings with a net rating of +27.21. The Illini feature the No. 8-rated offense (123.8) and the No. 17 defensive rating (96.6) 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).
• Junior G Andrej Stojakovic transferred to Illinois with a reputation as a prolific scorer, and he has started off strong, averaging 14.9 points on a team-leading 54.6% shooting. Stojakovic has four 20-point performances in the last seven games, highlighted by a season-high 26 points vs. #11 Alabama. Stojakovic also posted 23 points the win over #11 Texas Tech, and scored 20 and 24, respectively, in Illinois' wins over LIU and UTRGV. 
• Freshman F David Mirkovic is one of only four freshmen in the nation, along with Duke's Cameron Boozer, North Carolina's Caleb Wilson, and Washington's Hannes Steinbach, averaging at least 13.0 points and 9.0 rebounds per contest (through Dec. 7).
• Mirkovic leads the Illini, ranks inside the top five in the Big Ten, and is among the national leaders with: four double-doubles (third in B1G, 20th in NCAA); 86 total rebounds (second, 26th); 9.6 total rebounds per game (third, 26th); 6.56 defensive rebounds per game (third, 29th), and 3.0 offensive rebounds per game (fifth, 67th). 
• Senior G Kylan Boswell is the only player in the Big Ten averaging better than 17.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.5 assists per game (through Dec. 7). In the Illini's four ranked nonconference matchups this season, Boswell is averaging 21.0 points per game. He is the Illini's active leader with 1,091 career points (583 at Illinois), with seven 20+-point games and 32 career double-digit scoring games in Orange and Blue. 
• Illinois is 2-2 this season vs. Top 25 teams, with a home win over No. 11 Texas Tech (81-77) and a neutral-site victory over No. 13 Tennessee (75-62) on Dec. 6 in Nashville, and losses to #11 Alabama (90-86) on Nov. 18 at Chicago's United Center and #5 UConn (74-61) at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 28. With six ranked Big Ten teams in the most recent poll, the Illini are currently projected to play as many as 10 ranked games during the regular season.

ILLINOIS VS. OHIO STATE

• Tuesday marks the 195th meeting in the series between Illinois and Ohio State which dates back to 111 years to the 1914-15 season.  
• Illinois leads the all-time series, 112-82, with a 44-50 mark in games played in Columbus. 
• Illinois won the first nine games in the series, and 18 of the first 19 between 1914-15 and 1923-24. 
• Illinois' longest win streak in the series was a 12-game stretch from Jan. 21, 1950 to Feb. 11, 1956. Ohio State's longest win streak spanned seven games between Feb. 19, 1977 and Jan. 24, 1980. 
• Illinois' current three-game win streak vs. the Buckeyes is its longest since a five-game stretch between Feb. 9, 2003 and Jan. 5, 2005. 
• Last year, the Illini won their only matchup with the Buckeyes, 87-79, at State Farm Center behind a 24-point effort off the bench by Will Riley. Tomislav Ivisic recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds and Kylan Boswell chipped in with 14 points in a reserve role in the only game he has not started in his Illinois career. 
• Illinois picked up an 87-75 road win in its last visit to Value City Arena on Jan. 30, 2024. Terrence Shannon Jr. and Marcus Domask each tallied 23 points and three boards, while Ty Rodgers posted a double-double with 13 points and 10 rebounds.

ILLINI IN THE NET

• Illinois is No. 13 in the NCAA NET ranking though games played Dec. 7. 
• The Fighting Illini's No. 13 rating is the fourth-best mark in the Big Ten Conference. 
• Through nine games, the Illini are: 2-2 vs. Quad 1, 0-0 vs. Quad 2, 2-0 vs. Quad 3, and 3-0 vs. Quad 4.
• The Illini's remaining 22-game regular-season schedule would feature 16 games vs. Quad 1 or Quad 2 opponents, with two Quad 3 and four Quad 4 matchups remaining.  
  Quad 1s (11): at Ohio State (40), vs. Nebraska (27), at Iowa (26), at Northwestern (73), at Purdue (9), at Nebraska (27), at Michigan State (10), vs. Indiana (28), at USC (35), at UCLA (48), and vs. Michigan (1).  
  Quad 2s (5): vs. Missouri (64) in St. Louis, vs. Penn State (81) in Philadelphia, vs. Washington (66), vs. Northwestern (73), and vs. Wisconsin (55).
  Quad 3s (2): vs. Minnesota (128), and at Maryland (171)
  Quad 4s (4): vs. Southern (268), vs. Rutgers (192), vs. Maryland (171), and vs. Oregon (178)

ILLINOIS WHEN RANKED

• Tuesday's contest at Ohio State marks the 10th game of the season ranked inside the top 25 for the No. Fighting Illini. 
• Illinois is 659-269 (.710) all-time when ranked inside the AP Top 25. The program is 361-53 (.872) at home, including a 283-40 (.876) mark at State Farm Center, 160-150 (.516) on the road, and 138-64 (.683) at neutral sites. 
• Under head coach Brad Underwood, Illinois is 98-44 (.690) when ranked inside the top 25. 

Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)