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Illinois leads the Big Ten in five team statistical categories, with the following NCAA rankings: defensive rebounds per game (1st; 30.4), total rebounds per game (2nd in NCAA; 43.8), rebound margin (2nd; 10.0), 3-point attempts per game (6th; 30.3), and offensive rebounds per game (24th; 13.3).
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Illinois is 16-1 on the season when scoring at least 80 points. The Illini's 17 games with 80+ points are tied for the Big Ten lead with Iowa (17), and tied for 10th nationally. Among teams with at least 15 80-point games, Illinois' .941 win percentage ranks fifth in the nation behind Arkansas State at 15-0 (1.000), Auburn at 18-1 (.947), and Akron and Missouri at 17-1 (.944), each.
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The Illini secured their 11th home win of the season vs. UCLA (Feb. 11), their sixth straight season with at least 10 home wins at State Farm Center under Brad Underwood.
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Since 2019-20, the Illini are 80-17 (.825) at State Farm Center, tied with Purdue for the second-most home wins by a Big Ten team over the last six seasons behind Iowa (81). Nationally, the Illini's 80 home wins rank tied for 17th, overall, and tied for 10th among teams that have played each of the last six seasons in a power conference.
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Illinois is a combined 6-6 away from State Farm Center this season, with a 4-5 mark in true road contests, and a 2-1 mark in neutral site games heading into Saturday's contest vs. #3 Duke at Madison Square Garden.
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Illinois is 33-26 (.559) in Big Ten road games since the start of the 2019-20 season, the best mark in the league over the last six seasons. The Illini have finished .500 or better on the road in league play in four of the last five seasons, and are 4-5 this season heading into their final road game, March 2 at #12 Michigan.
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Under Brad Underwood, Illinois has finished in the top 30 in KenPom adjusted efficiency for both offensive and defensive in three of the last four seasons. The Illini offense is currently No. 16 with a rating of 120.8, while the team is 31st on defense (97.4).
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Illinois is No. 13 nationally in KenPom's effective field goal percentage defense (.455), including a No. 10 ranking in 2-point defense (.446).
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According to KenPom, the Illini rank No. 26 nationally, and seventh among Power Conference programs, with a 3-point attempt rate (3-point attempts/total field goal attempts) of 47.2%. Among major conference teams, Illinois ranks first nationally with five games of 15+ made 3-pointers.
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Illinois is averaging 83.9 points, the team's highest output in 31 seasons, since the 1993-94 Illini averaged 84.0 points per game.
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Eight of Illinois' wins have come by 20+ points, with three of those games coming on the road. The Illini defeated Eastern Illinois, 112-67 (+45); Oakland, 90-58 (+32); UMES, 87-40 (+47); and Little Rock, 92-34 (+58) all within the first month of the season. Illinois then defeated Chicago State, 117-64 (+53); recorded an historic 109-77 (+32) victory at No. 9 Oregon; earned a 91-52 (+39) home win over Penn State; rolled to a 94-69 (+25) victory at Indiana; and posted 95-74 (+21) win at Minnesota. The Illini have led by 25+ points in 10 games this season.
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Illinois is second nationally in rebounding at 43.8 boards per game, on pace for the program's best average in 52 seasons, since (44.4 rpg in 1972-73). The Orange and Blue have outrebounded their opponent in 22 of 27 games this season.
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Illinois is 3-5 against Top-25 ranked teams this season with wins over No. 19 Arkansas, No. 20 Wisconsin, and at No. 9 Oregon. The Illini's three ranked wins are tied for 17th most in the nation. The Illini's final five regular-season games feature matchups against four top-25 opponents.
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Brad Underwood has led the Illini program to Top-25 rankings in seven consecutive seasons. The Illini are currently receiving votes in both the AP and coaches polls. Illinois has been ranked for a total of nine weeks this season, including a streak of seven-consecutive weeks, and has reached as high as 13th.
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Illinois has registered 78 wins in league play since the start of the 2019-20 season, one behind Purdue for the most in the conference over the last six seasons. And when including the conference tournament, the Illini's 83 wins during this time span also rank second in the league behind Boilermakers.
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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, and the team's three total championships during that span are tied with Purdue for the most in the Big Ten.
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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 91.2% of the team's scoring so far (2,066 of 2,266 total points), with UI freshmen accounting for 43.5% of those points (899).
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Illinois' top three scorers, and top three rebounders are all in their first year of collegiate basketball. Freshman G Kasparas Jakucionis ranks first in scoring (15.6 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.5 rpg). Sophomore C Tomislav Ivisic nearly averages a double-double at 12.5 points (second on team) and team-leading 8.3 rebounds. Freshman F Will Riley is the Illini's No. 3 scorer at 11.9 points per game. And Freshman F Morez Johnson Jr. ranks second on the team at 6.6 rebounds per game with a team-leading 70 offensive boards (2.7 per game).
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Eight different Illini players have recorded a 20-point game this season, tied for the top mark in the NCAA, and the most by any Big Ten program since at least 2004-05.
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Three Illini scored 20+ points vs. Penn State - Ben Humrichous (21), Morez Johnson Jr. (20) and Tre White (20). It marked just the third time in the last 35 seasons that Illinois had a game featuring a trio of 20-point scorers.
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Illinois' 32-point road win over #9 Oregon 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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In their 109-77 win at #9 Oregon, Illinois 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 also posted a dominant 94-69 win at Indiana on Jan. 14. The 25-point margin of victory was the second-largest for a Hoosiers' opponent in Assembly Hall history, while Illinois' 94 points marked the most ever scored by a visiting team in a regulation game at Assembly Hall.
