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Illinois leads the Big Ten in five team statistical categories, with the following NCAA rankings: total rebounds per game (2nd in NCAA; 42.9), defensive rebounds per game (2nd; 29.7), 3-point attempts per game (4th; 30.3), scoring offense (11th; 83.6), and offensive rebounds per game (25th; 13.2).
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Illinois is 18-1 on the season when scoring at least 80 points. The Illini's 19 games with 80+ points are the most in the Big Ten, and tied for 10th nationally. Among teams with at least 15 80-point games, Illinois' .947 win percentage ranks fifth in the nation behind Arkansas State at 18-0 (1.000), Duke at 18-0 (1.000), Auburn at 21-1 (.952), and Akron at 19-1 (.947).
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The Illini secured their 12th home win of the season vs. Iowa (Feb. 25). It marks the team's 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 81-17 (.827) at State Farm Center, one win behind Purdue and Iowa for the most by a Big Ten team over the last six seasons behind. Nationally, the Illini's 81 home wins rank tied for 20th, overall, and tied for 12th among teams that have played each of the last six seasons in a power conference.
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Illinois is 7-7 away from State Farm Center this season, with a 5-5 mark in true road contests, and a 2-2 mark in neutral site games.
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Illinois is 34-26 (.567) 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 five of the last six seasons.
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Under Brad Underwood, Illinois has finished in the top 40 in KenPom adjusted efficiency for both offensive and defensive in four of the last six seasons. The Illini offense is currently No. 14 (121.8), while the team is 32nd on defense (97.4).
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Illinois is No. 21 nationally in KenPom's effective field goal percentage defense (.464), including a No. 11 ranking (first in the Big Ten) in 2-point defense (.454).
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According to KenPom, the Illini rank No. 30 nationally, and sixth among Power Conference programs, with a 3-point attempt rate (3-point attempts/total field goal attempts) of 47.1%. Among major conference teams, Illinois ranks first nationally with five games of 15+ made 3-pointers.
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Illinois is averaging a Big Ten-leading 83.6 points per game, just ahead of the pace of last year's team that averaged 83.4 points per contest en route to a Big Ten Tournament Championship and Elite Eight run. The Illini are on pace for the program's top team scoring average in 31 seasons since 1993-94 (84.0 ppg).
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Illinois has won 11 games by 20+ points, with six coming against Big Ten Opponents, and four 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; posted 95-74 (+21) win at Minnesota; notched an 81-61 (+20) victory over Iowa, and rolled to a 93-73 (+20) road win at #15 Michigan.
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Illinois is second nationally in rebounding at 42.9 boards per game, on pace for the program's best average in 52 seasons (44.4 rpg in 1972-73). The Orange and Blue have outrebounded their opponent in 23 of 30 games this season, going 18-5 in those contests.
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Illinois is 4-6 against Top-25 ranked teams this season with wins over No. 19 Arkansas, No. 20 Wisconsin, at No. 9 Oregon, and at No. 15 Michigan. The Illini's four ranked wins are tied for 13th nationally.
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Brad Underwood has led the Illini program to Top-25 rankings in seven consecutive seasons. Illinois has been ranked for a total of nine weeks this season and is receiving votes in the latest AP Top 25 and coaches poll. Illinois was ranked for seven consecutive weeks this season, and has reached as high as 13th.
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Illinois has registered 80 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. When including the conference tournament, the Illini's 86 wins over Big Ten teams during that time span also are one behind the 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 91.7% of the team's scoring so far (2,299 of 2,507 total points), with UI freshmen accounting for 42.4% of those points (974).
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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 (15.4 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.6 rpg). Sophomore C Tomislav Ivisic averages 12.6 points (second on team) and team-leading 7.7 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.
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With the Illinois' 93-73 road win at #15 Michigan (March 2) and the team's 109-77 win at #9 Oregon (Jan. 2), Illinois became just the fourth program since 1950 with multiple 20+-point ranked road wins, joining 1997 Kentucky, 2004 Pitt, and 2007 North Carolina.