| Illinois Probable Starters (from the last game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
215 |
Sr. |
3.7 |
7.0 |
2.9 |
6.5 apg over last two games |
| G |
11 |
Alfonso Plummer |
6-1 |
180 |
Gr. |
13.9 |
1.7 |
0.9 |
24.0 ppg over last three games |
| G |
15 |
RJ Melendez |
6-7 |
205 |
Fr. |
4.2 |
1.6 |
0.4 |
2021 Florida SIAA Player of the Year |
| F |
33 |
Coleman Hawkins |
6-10 |
215 |
So. |
9.7 |
6.3 |
2.3 |
Leads UI in steals (9) & blocks (8) |
| C |
21 |
Kofi Cockburn |
7-0 |
285 |
Jr. |
26.8 |
9.5 |
1.3 |
Nation's leading scorer |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Brandin Podziemski |
6-5 |
200 |
Fr. |
0.3 |
0.8 |
0.5 |
2021 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-2 |
175 |
Sr. |
8.4 |
2.8 |
3.0 |
23 points (6 treys) at Marquette |
| F |
2 |
Connor Serven |
6-9 |
235 |
So. |
0.0 |
0.0 |
0.0 |
Team's lone walkon in second year |
| G/F |
3 |
Jacob Grandison |
6-6 |
210 |
Gr. |
10.5 |
4.2 |
1.7 |
52.9% 3FG (9-17) |
| F |
4 |
Omar Payne |
6-10 |
240 |
Jr. |
2.6 |
1.7 |
0.1 |
7 points & 5 boards at Marquette |
| G |
5 |
Andre Curbelo |
6-1 |
175 |
So. |
9.3 |
4.3 |
5.5 |
Leads nation in assist rate (49.4) |
| G |
10 |
Luke Goode |
6-7 |
200 |
Fr. |
3.6 |
2.8 |
0.4 |
2021 Indiana first-team All-State |
| C |
12 |
Brandon Lieb |
7-0 |
220 |
So. |
1.3 |
1.0 |
0.3 |
Career-high 4 points vs ASU |
| F |
13 |
Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk |
6-8 |
235 |
r-So. |
2.5 |
4.7 |
1.5 |
Career-high 6 assists vs UTRGV |
| G |
22 |
Austin Hutcherson |
6-6 |
190 |
Gr. |
3.7 |
2.7 |
0.7 |
Made UI debut Nov. 22 vs Cincy |
Career Record: 185-85 (.685), 9th year
At Illinois: 76-58 (.567), 5th year
Big Ten: 40-38 (.513)
Series Notes vs. Rutgers
Record: Illinois leads 9-3
Streak: Illinois W-1
Last Meeting: #3 Illinois 90, Rutgers 68 (3/12/2021 @Indianapolis)
Record in Champaign: Illinois leads 5-0
Streak in Champaign: Illinois W-5
Last Meeting in Champaign: Illinois 54, Rutgers 51 (1/11/2020)
Underwood vs. Rutgers: 5-2
Opening Tips
• Illinois concludes a three-game home stand on Friday, facing Rutgers to open Big Ten play (6 p.m. CT, ESPN2).
• Illinois caries a nine-game winning streak at State Farm Center and has won five straight Big Ten home games.
• Illinois is 68-48 all-time in Big Ten openers, including 45-18 when opening league play at home, and 24-6 when doing so at State Farm Center.
• Illinois defeated Minnesota at home last year (12/15/20), winning its Big Ten opener for the first time since the 2013-14 season. The Illini are aiming to start 1-0 in conference play in consecutive years for the first time since doing so four straight seasons from 2008-09 through 2011-12.
• Illinois has had six different starting lineups through seven games.
• Illinois has outrebounded six of seven opponents and ranks ninth in the NCAA in rebound margin at +12.1 rpg.
• Illinois ranks eighth nationally in offensive rebound percentage (39.6).
• Illinois has held all seven opponents to less than 48% shooting.
• Preseason All-American/Big Ten Player of the Year Kofi Cockburn is the nation's leading scorer, averaging 26.8 points. He has scored 20+ points in each of the last three games (29.7 ppg), the longest streak of his career.
• Cockburn has posted double-doubles in all four games against Rutgers during his career, averaging 14.0 points and 12.8 rebounds vs. the Scarlet Knights.
• Cockburn has 30 career double-doubles, tied for second in the NCAA among active players since 2019-20.
• Cockburn has drawn 36 fouls through four games (9.0 avg). He is drawing 8.6 fouls per 40 minutes, which ranks second nationally.
• Cockburn ranks ninth nationally in offensive rating by kenpom (123.0).
• Cockburn has five assists over the last three games, equaling his season total in 31 games last year.
• Alfonso Plummer is averaging 24.0 points over the last three games, shooting 51.7% from 3-point range (16-31) while averaging 5.3 made threes.
• Plummer also has topped 20 points in each of the last three games. This is the second time in his career he has done so, along with his last three games of the 2019-20 season while at Utah.
• Plummer is perfect from the foul line this season (18-18), including 8-for-8 in each of the last two games.
• Da'Monte Williams is averaging 8.0 rebounds over the last five games, and 6.5 assists over the last two.
• Illinois has made at least 52% from the field in each of the last three games. The Illini are shooting 55.8% the last three games (86-154) compared to 39.1% through the first four games (97-248).
• Illinois is shooting 43.1% from 3-point land over the last three games while making an average of 10.3 threes (31-72), compared to 23.9% the previous three games with an average of 5.6 makes (17-71).
• Illinois has averaged just 12.5 turnovers over the last two games (25) after committing 18.0 turnovers through the first five games (90).
Notes from the Last Time Out: Illinois 82, Notre Dame 72 | Box Score
• Illinois improved to 10-13 all-time in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge, with its 10 wins tied for fifth among Big Ten teams.
• Following last year's 15-point victory at No. 10 Duke, the Illini have now won consecutive Challenge games for the first time since claiming four in a row from 2009-12.
• Kofi Cockburn had 28 points, tying the Illini scoring record in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. He went 11-of-16 from the field and 6-of-9 from the free throw line, and drew nine fouls on the evening.
• Cockburn equaled the UI Challenge record first set by Mike Davis, who had 28 points vs. Clemson 12/2/08.
• Cockburn has now scored 20+ points in three straight games for the first time in his career. He previously had 23 points vs. Kansas State (Nov. 23) and career-high 38 points vs. UTRGV (Nov. 26).
• Cockburn moved up to No. 48 on the UI all-time scoring list with 1,068 career points.
• Alfonso Plummer had 21 points, and, like Cockburn, topped 20 points in his third-straight game. He previously had 21 vs. Kansas State (Nov. 23) and season-high 30 vs. UTRGV (Nov. 26).
• Trent Frazier returned from a knee injury to play 32 minutes, finishing with seven points and season-high six assists.
• RJ Melendez earned his first career start with the Fighting Illini and hit two 3-pointers to equal his season high of six points.
• Illinois made 11 three-pointers on the night, including nine in the first 20 minutes to mark its season high for a half.
• Illinois was without Andre Curbelo and Austin Hutcherson.
• The Big Ten won the Challenge for the third straight season, winning this year's event, 8-6.
Stripe State Farm Coming Up
Illinois' Dec. 11 home game against No. 11 Arizona marks the return of Stripe State Farm Center. Fighting Illini Athletics is asking all fans to participate by helping stripe the arena orange and blue. Tip-off is set for 4 p.m. CT and will be televised nationally by FOX.
» Fans holding tickets in ODD-numbered sections should wear ORANGE
» Fans with tickets in EVEN-numbered sections should wear BLUE
» All University of Illinois students should wear ORANGE
The color map is the same as the first Stripe State Farm game, when the Illini defeated Indiana, 67-66, on March 1, 2020.
The Dec. 11 Arizona game is sold out, but tickets can be found through Illinois' secondary ticket partner StubHub.
» Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
