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No. 23 Illinois plays the second of back-to-back road games on Saturday at Minnesota (5 p.m. CT, BTN).
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The Minnesota matchup is the fourth of five games in 13 days across four locations for the Illini from Jan. 30-Feb. 11. This stretch will conclude Tuesday night with a home game vs. UCLA.
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Head coach Brad Underwood is 8-2 against Minnesota and has led the Illini to seven-consecutive wins in the series, a streak that began on Jan. 30, 2020.
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Included in that streak, the Illini have won three straight over the Gophers at Williams Arena.
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Illinois is the nation's top rebounding team, leading the NCAA in rebounds per game (45.3 rpg) and defensive rebounds per game (31.4 rpg), and ranking second in rebound margin (+11.3 rpg).
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Illinois is No. 14 in the latest NCAA NET rankings, standing second in the Big Ten. The Illini are tied for seventh nationally with six Quad 1 wins.
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The Fighting Illini came up short in their come-from-behind bid at Rutgers on Wednesday night, falling 82-73 at Jersey Mike's Arena despite erasing an early 17-point deficit to regain the lead after halftime and holding a 62-60 edge as late as the 7:54 mark in the second half.
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The freshman duo of Will Riley and Morez Johnson Jr. once again keyed the Illini effort. Riley led the team at Rutgers with 18 points and career-high six assists in 34 minutes off the bench. Johnson added 11 points and five rebounds in his fifth-consecutive start for the Illini.
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Riley and Johnson also led the Illini comeback victory over Ohio State last Sunday. Riley posted a career-high 24 points (20 after halftime), the most by a freshman reserve in a Big Ten game this season. Johnson notched his third double-double of the year with 14 points and a team-season-high 15 rebounds (seven offensive).
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Riley earned his second Big Ten Freshman of the Week award on Monday. He scored 16 points with a game-high four 3-pointers at Nebraska before his 24-point outburst vs. Ohio State. For the week, Riley averaged 20 points and 3.5 rebounds, shooting 52% from the field, including 45.5% from 3-point range.
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Saturday's contest marks the Illini's first trip to Williams arena since a 78-60 victory on Jan. 16, 2023. However, Minneapolis' Target Center served as the host for the 2024 Big Ten Tournament where Brad Underwood led the Illini to the championship with wins over Ohio State, Nebraska and Wisconsin in consecutive days to claim the program's second B1G Tournament title of the Underwood era.
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With Illinois' 87-79 win vs. Ohio State on Feb. 2, the team improved to 14-1 on the season when scoring at least 80 points. The Illini's 15 games with 80+ points are second in the Big Ten behind Iowa (16), and tied for ninth nationally. Among teams with at least 15 80-point games, Illinois' .933 win percentage ranks tied for third in the nation behind Auburn at 16-0 (1.000) and Alabama at 18-1 (.947).
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Illinois is a combined 5-5 away from State Farm Center this season, with a 3-4 mark in true road contests. The Illini had won three straight conference road games prior to an 80-78 heartbreaker at No. 12 Michigan State on Jan. 19, an 80-74 overtime loss at Nebraska on Jan. 30, and an 82-73 loss at Rutgers on Feb. 5.
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Illinois is 32-25 (.561) 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.
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The Illini secured their 10th home win of the season vs. Ohio State (Feb. 2), their sixth straight season with at least 10 home wins at State Farm Center under Brad Underwood. Since 2019-20, the Illini boast the third-best home record in the Big Ten at 79-16 (.832). Nationally, that ranks 13th among teams that have played each of the last six seasons in a power conference.
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Earlier this week, Kasparas Jakucionis was named to Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List and a Top-10 candidate for the Jerry West Award. These are the latest honors for Jakucionis, who also was a unanimous selection to the five-player Freshman All-America Team by The Athletic, a Midseason All-America third team selection by The Sporting News, and a John R. Wooden Award Midseason Watch List selection.
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Illinois is No. 17 in the latest KenPom net rating at 24.00. The Fighting Illini are on pace for their fourth top-20 rating in the last five seasons under Brad Underwood.
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Four of Illinois' last seven wins have come by 25+ points. The Illini 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, and rolled to a 94-69 (+25) victory at Indiana. The Illini have led by 25+ points in nine games this season.
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Illinois is averaging 84.7 points, the team's highest output since the 1988-89 Flyin' Illini averaged 86.4 ppg.
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Illinois ranks second in the Big Ten with a scoring margin of +13.9 points. That is on pace for No. 2 in the Illini record book since 1960 behind only the 2004-05 Illini that posted a scoring margin of +15.9 ppg.
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Illinois leads the nation in rebounding at 45.3 boards per game, on pace for the program's best average in 53 seasons, since (48.0 rpg in 1971-72). The Orange and Blue have outrebounded their opponent in 20 of 23 games this season.
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The Illini rank No. 16 in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (94.2), on pace for its highest ranking since reaching seventh during the 2021 season.
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Illinois is seventh nationally in KenPom's effective field goal percentage defense (.440), ranking eighth in 2-point defense (.438) and 21st in 3-point defense (.297). The Illini are one of seven programs to rank in the top 25 in both categories, joining Florida, George Mason, Kansas, Little Rock, San Diego State, and Tennessee
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According to KenPom, the Illini rank third nationally, and first among Power Conference programs, with a 3-point attempt rate (3-point attempts/total field goal attempts) of 30.0%. Among major conference teams, Illinois ranks first nationally with five games of 15+ made 3-pointers.
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Illinois is 3-3 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 12th most in the nation.
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Brad Underwood has led the Illini program to Top-25 rankings in seven consecutive seasons, currently at No. 23 in the latest AP poll and 25th in the coaches poll. Illinois has been ranked for a total of nine weeks this season, including an active streak of seven-consecutive weeks, and has reached as high as 13th.
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Illinois has registered 76 wins in league play since the start of the 2019-20 season, two behind Purdue for the most in the conference over the last six seasons. And when including the conference tournament, the Illini have 81 wins during this time span, also second in the league behind Purdue (83).
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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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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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Newcomers to the Illini roster have accounted for 91.6% of the team's scoring so far (1,763 of 1,924 total points), with UI freshmen accounting for 41.9% of those points (738).
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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 (15.2 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.5 rpg). Sophomore C Tomislav Ivisic nearly averages a double-double at 12.8 points (second on team) and team-leading 8.5 rebounds. Freshman F Will Riley is the Illini's No. 4 scorer at 11.3 points per game. And Freshman F Morez Johnson Jr. ranks second on the team at 6.8 rebounds per game with a team-leading 62 offensive boards (2.7 per game).
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At 15.2 points per game, point guard Kasparas Jakucionis is on pace to become the third Illini freshman in program history to average more than 15.0 points per game along with Kiwane Garris (15.9 in 1993-94), Cory Bradford (15.4 in 1998-99), and Deon Thomas (15.1 in 1990-91).
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Jakucionis has posted four game this season with 20+ points, 6+ rebounds and 5+ assists, tied for third nationally with Auburn fifth-year senior Johni Broome and Purdue junior Braden Smith.
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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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Jakucionis has eight 20-point games this season, tying the Illini all-time record for 20-point games by a freshman with Cory Bradford who set the current mark as a redshirt freshman in 1998-99.
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Tomislav Ivisic is the No. 5 rebounder in the Big Ten at 8.5 rpg. Ivisic has led the Illini rebounding effort, which ranks No. 1 nationally in total rebounds per game, in 11 of the 20 games in which he has played.
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Ivisic, classified as sophomore in his first season of collegiate competition, has recorded eight double-doubles through 20 games, ranking fourth in the Big Ten, tied for 31st in the NCAA overall, and tied for first among power conference underclassmen.
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Ben Humrichous has knocked down at least one 3-pointer in 21 of 23 games this season. He leads the team and ranks 14th in the Big Ten averaging 2.0 triples per contest.
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After opening the year averaging 7.1 points and 5.0 rebounds in eight games, Tre White found a rhythm on the court for the Illini. Beginning with a 23-point, 8 rebound effort vs. #20 Wisconsin on Dec. 10, White averaged 12.1 points (157) and 6.2 rebounds (80) the team's next 13 games, scoring in double figures seven times.
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Kylan Boswell is averaging 13.4 points (201), 6.3 rebounds (95), and 3.5 assists (52) in his last 15 games, reaching double-figures scoring 12 times including a career-high 22 points in the Illini's win at Indiana (Jan. 14).
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Boswell recorded the seventh triple-double in Illinois history and fifth of the Underwood era against Chicago State (Dec. 29), tallying 18 points, career-high 10 rebounds, and career-high 10 assists.
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Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn continues to make a big impact for the Illini in his sophomore season. Over his last 13 games, Gibbs-Lawhorn is averaging 10.0 points (130) while shooting 52.2% (48-92) from the field.
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Gibbs-Lawhorn made the first start of his collegiate career vs. Ohio State (Feb. 2), and was key to the Illini's 87-79 come-from-behind victory. He posted 10 points highlighted by a momentum-shifting steal and run-out dunk that capped a 12-2 run to pull the Illini to within one possession after OSU's lead had reached 11 points.
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Morez Johnson Jr. is also excelling for the Illini. Over his last 13 games Johnson is averaging 8.7 points (113) and 7.3 rebounds (95), highlighted by a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double in the win over Penn State (Jan. 8), a 15-point, nine-rebound effort in his second-career start vs. Northwestern on Jan. 26, a 14-point, 15-rebound double-double in the team's come-from-behind win over Ohio State on Feb. 2, and 11 points and five rebounds at Rutgers on Feb. 5.
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Johnson, at 6.8 rebounds per game, is just short of Efrem Winters (6.9 rpg in 1982-83) for the second-best freshman mark in Illini history. Kofi Cockburn set the record holds the record at 8.8 rpg as a freshman in 2019-20.
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Johnson posted his second double-double of the season in Illinois' Jan. 8 win over Penn State, recording a career-high 20 points and pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds. On Feb. 2, he notched his third double-double with 14 points and a team-season-high 15 rebounds vs. Ohio State.
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Through 23 games, Johnson has recorded 27 total blocks, tied for sixth in the Illini freshman record book with James Augustine (2002-03). Johnson is on pace to finish his freshman season third among Illini freshmen all-time behind only Deon Thomas (54 in 1990-91) and Kofi Cockburn (44 in 2019-20).
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Illinois leads the Big Ten in seven team statistical categories, with the following NCAA rankings: total rebounds per game (1st in NCAA; 45.3), defensive rebounds per game (1st; 31.4), rebound margin (2nd; 11.3), 3-point attempts per game (5th; 30.9), offensive rebounds per game (17th; 13.9), free-throw attempts per game (19th; 23.5), and field goal percentage defense (21st; .396).
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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.
