| Illinois Probable Starters (from the last game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
11 |
Ayo Dosunmu |
6-5 |
200 |
Jr. |
22.4 |
6.9 |
4.8 |
8 games of 22+ points (2nd in NCAA) |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-2 |
175 |
Sr. |
8.4 |
3.1 |
2.9 |
1,228 career pts (#31 at ILL) |
| G |
44 |
Adam Miller |
6-3 |
180 |
Fr. |
9.3 |
1.9 |
0.7 |
36.2% 3FG (25-69) |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
215 |
Sr. |
6.5 |
5.9 |
2.1 |
63.6% 3FG (21-33) |
| C |
21 |
Kofi Cockburn |
7-0 |
285 |
So. |
17.3 |
10.1 |
0.2 |
9 double-doubles (1st in NCAA) |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| F |
2 |
Connor Serven |
6-9 |
215 |
Fr. |
0.7 |
0.3 |
0.0 |
First year walkon |
| G/F |
3 |
Jacob Grandison |
6-6 |
205 |
r-Jr. |
2.4 |
2.5 |
0.8 |
45.5% 3FG (5-11) |
| F |
4 |
Zach Griffith |
6-6 |
220 |
Sr. |
0.7 |
0.7 |
0.0 |
2x Academic All-B1G |
| G |
5 |
Andre Curbelo |
6-1 |
175 |
Fr. |
9.3 |
3.3 |
4.6 |
1st in assists in B1G play (6.1) |
| G |
10 |
Edgar Padilla Jr. |
6-1 |
165 |
Fr. |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
First year walkon |
| C |
12 |
Brandon Lieb |
7-0 |
210 |
Fr. |
1.3 |
1.7 |
0.3 |
4 pts, 3 reb in debut |
| F |
13 |
Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk |
6-8 |
235 |
r-Fr. |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Made season debut Jan. 7 |
| F |
15 |
Giorgi Bezhanishvili |
6-9 |
245 |
Jr. |
5.7 |
3.2 |
0.8 |
60% FG (33-55) |
| G |
22 |
Austin Hutcherson |
6-6 |
175 |
r-Jr. |
– |
– |
– |
Out for season |
| G |
32 |
Tyler Underwood |
6-2 |
180 |
Gr. |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Working on 2nd grad. degree |
| F |
33 |
Coleman Hawkins |
6-10 |
215 |
Fr. |
1.3 |
1.0 |
0.6 |
5.9 mpg |
| C |
34 |
Jermaine Hamlin |
6-10 |
235 |
So. |
1.2 |
0.6 |
0.0 |
4 pts vs. MINN (Dec. 15) |
Career Record: 165-80 (.673), 8th year
At Illinois: 56-53 (.514), 4th year
Series Notes vs. Ohio State
Record: Illinois leads 106-79
Streak: Ohio State W-1
Record at Champaign: Illinois leads 62-27
Streak at Champaign: Illinois W-1
Last Year's Meeting: #19 OSU 71, #23 ILL 63 (3/5/20 @OSU)
Underwood vs. Ohio State: 1-3
Opening Tips
• After nearly a week off following the postponement of Wednesday's game at Nebraska, Illinois returns to action Saturday at home against No. 21 Ohio State (11 a.m. CT, FOX).
• It is the first time in four years that the Illini face the Buckeyes in Champaign. The last meeting came on Jan. 1, 2017, a 75-70 Illini victory.
• Illinois is 1-2 in top-25 match-ups so far this season, 95-92 all-time, and 35-10 at State Farm Center.
• Leading the Illini is first-team All-America candidate Ayo Dosunmu. Owning numbers of 22.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 4.8 assists per game, Dosunmu is one of only two players in the nation averaging at least 20 points, five rebounds and four assists this season (Taevion Kinsey, Marshall).
• Kofi Cockburn leads the NCAA with nine double-doubles on the year. He has registered double-doubles in six of seven Big Ten contests and is averaging 20.1 points and 11.1 boards during league play on 72% shooting.
• Da'Monte Williams leads the nation in 3-point shooting (min. 20 attempts), connecting on 21-of-33 for 63.6%.
• Over the last three games, freshman Adam Miller is averaging 11.0 points (33) and making an average of 3.0 treys (9) while shooting 40.9% from behind the arc (9-22).
• Freshman Andre Curbelo leads the Big Ten in assists during league play at 6.1 apg.
Prep Teammates Reunite
Freshmen Andre Curbelo of Illinois and Zed Key of Ohio State played alongside each other the last two seasons at Long Island Lutheran High School. They helped lead LuHi to the 2019 New York State Federation Tournament of Champions Class AA title as juniors, and had LuHi in position to try and repeat as seniors before the 2020 postseason was canceled due to COVID-19.
Curbelo averaged 8.1 assists last year at LuHi, with many of those assists registered on passes to Key.
Dynamic Duo
Point guard Ayo Dosunmu and center Kofi Cockburn are one of the most prolific tandems in college basketball, combining to average 39.7 points per game. That ranks sixth in Div. I, and second in the high major conferences. Dosunmu is the NCAA's ninth-leading scorer at 22.4 ppg, while Cockburn is 120th at 17.3 ppg. Here are the nation's top scoring duos to date this season:
41.8 – Hayden Brown (22.8) & Kaiden Rice (19.0), The Citadel
41.5 – Max Abmas (21.0) & Kevin Obanor (20.5), Oral Roberts
41.1 – Isiaih Mosley (23.7) & Gaige Prim (17.4), Missouri State
40.1 – Cameron Thomas (21.8) & Trendon Watford (18.3), LSU
39.8 – Cory Kispert (21.2) & Drew Timme (18.6), Gonzaga
39.7 – Ayo Dosunmu (22.4) & Kofi Cockburn (17.3), Illinois
On the Offensive
Illinois currently ranks 10th nationally in offensive adjusted efficiency (kenpom) at 116.0. That is the second-highest ranking ever for the program (since metric began tracking in 1997), behind only the 2005 NCAA runner-up squad that finished No. 3 in offensive efficiency.
The Illini are 20th in the NCAA and second in the Big Ten in scoring offense, averaging 83.3 points.
Illinois ranks 11th nationally in effective field goal percentage (57.9%). That is fueled by strong improvement from behind the arc, where the Illini currently rank fifth in the NCAA in 3-point field goal percentage (41.2%) after finishing last year ranked 294th while shooting just 30.8%. Illinois is also one of the nation's best teams from 2-point range, shooting 56.1% to rank 29th.
Illinois is at 51.5% overall, ranking eighth in the NCAA in field goal percentage. The Illini have made at least 50% in seven of the first 13 games.
Crashing the Glass
Illinois' emphasis on rebounding in the Underwood era continues to pay dividends. Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks 14th in the nation in defensive rebound rate, allowing opponents to claim just 20.7% of its misses. The Illini are second in the B1G and 40th nationally in offensive rebound rate, meanwhile, getting back 34% of missed shots.
Illinois ranks third in the NCAA in rebound margin at +12.8 per game. Illinois has outrebounded six of its seven conference foes, including four by a double digits.
» Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
