| Illinois Probable Starters (from the last game) |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
1 |
Trent Frazier |
6-2 |
175 |
Sr. |
8.0 |
3.2 |
3.3 |
5.3 apg over his last three games |
| G |
11 |
Alfonso Plummer |
6-1 |
180 |
Gr. |
15.1 |
1.9 |
0.9 |
24.0 ppg over last four games |
| G |
20 |
Da'Monte Williams |
6-3 |
215 |
Sr. |
4.0 |
6.6 |
3.1 |
6.0 apg over last three games |
| F |
33 |
Coleman Hawkins |
6-10 |
215 |
So. |
9.6 |
5.9 |
2.3 |
Leads UI in steals (12) & blocks (10) |
| C |
21 |
Kofi Cockburn |
7-0 |
285 |
Jr. |
24.0 |
10.6 |
1.4 |
Nation's third-leading scorer |
| Off the Bench |
| Pos. |
No. |
Name |
Ht. |
Wt. |
Yr. |
PPG |
RPG |
APG |
Note |
| G |
0 |
Brandin Podziemski |
6-5 |
200 |
Fr. |
0.2 |
0.8 |
0.6 |
2021 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball |
| 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. |
11.3 |
4.1 |
1.6 |
50% 3FG (11-22) |
| F |
4 |
Omar Payne |
6-10 |
240 |
Jr. |
2.3 |
2.4 |
0.1 |
Season-high 7 boards vs Rutgers |
| G |
5 |
Andre Curbelo |
6-1 |
175 |
So. |
9.3 |
4.3 |
5.5 |
Second in nation in assist rate (47.7) |
| G |
10 |
Luke Goode |
6-7 |
200 |
Fr. |
4.0 |
2.3 |
0.7 |
2021 Indiana first-team All-State |
| C |
12 |
Brandon Lieb |
7-0 |
220 |
So. |
1.0 |
0.8 |
0.3 |
Career-high 4 points vs ASU |
| F |
13 |
Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk |
6-8 |
235 |
r-So. |
2.4 |
4.3 |
1.3 |
Career-high 6 assists vs UTRGV |
| G |
15 |
RJ Melendez |
6-7 |
205 |
Fr. |
4.2 |
1.5 |
0.3 |
2021 Florida SIAA Player of the Year |
| G |
22 |
Austin Hutcherson |
6-6 |
190 |
Gr. |
2.8 |
2.0 |
0.5 |
Made UI debut Nov. 22 vs Cincy |
Career Record: 186-85 (.686), 9th year
At Illinois: 77-58 (.570), 5th year
Big Ten: 41-38 (.519)
Series Notes vs. Iowa
Record: Illinois leads 88-76
Streak: Illinois W-3
Last Meeting: #3 Illinois 82, #5 Iowa 71 (3/13/2021 @Indianapolis)
Record in Iowa City: Iowa leads 56-22
Streak in Iowa City: Iowa W-2
Last Meeting in Iowa City: #18 Iowa 72, #19 Illinois 65 (2/2/2020)
Underwood vs. Iowa: 3-5
Opening Tips
• Illinois carries a four-game winning streak into its Big Ten road opener Monday at Iowa (6 p.m. CT, FS1).
• Illinois has won its last three Big Ten road games, and eight of its last nine.
• Illinois is looking for its first win in Iowa City since Feb. 18, 2017.
• Illinois is coming off an 86-51 home win over Rutgers on Friday to start Big Ten play, its largest margin of victory in a conference game since 2005.
• Illinois has had seven different starting lineups through eight games.
• Illinois has outrebounded seven of eight opponents and ranks eighth in the NCAA in rebound margin at +12.4 rpg.
• Illinois ranks eighth nationally in offensive rebound percentage (39.6).
• Illinois is averaging 83.5 points during its four-game win streak.
• Preseason All-American/Big Ten Player of the Year Kofi Cockburn is the nation's third-leading scorer at 24.0 ppg.
• Alfonso Plummer is averaging 24.0 points over the last four games, shooting 48.7% from 3-point range (19-39) while averaging 4.8 made threes.
• Cockburn is one of five players nationally averaging at least 20 points and 10 rebounds.
• Cockburn has 31 career double-doubles, ranking third in the NCAA among active players since 2019-20.
• Cockburn has drawn 40 fouls through five games (8.0 avg). He is drawing 8.4 fouls per 40 minutes, which ranks fourth nationally.
• Cockburn ranks fifth nationally in offensive rating by kenpom (124.8).
• Cockburn has seven assists over the last four games. His season total in 31 games last year was five.
• Plummer has topped 20 points in each of the last four games, the longest streak of his career.
• Plummer leads the Big Ten in 3-pointers, averaging 3.0 makes. He led the Pac-12 last season, averaging 2.6 made threes while at Utah.
• Plummer is perfect from the foul line this season (23-23), including 21-of-21 over the last three games.
• Jacob Grandison is shooting 60% on threes over his last three games (6-10).
• Da'Monte Williams is averaging 7.3 rebounds over the last six games, and 6.0 assists over the last three.
• Williams is 3-of-6 from 3-point range the last two games after making just 2-of-12 through the first six.
• Trent Frazier is averaging 5.3 assists over his last three games.
• Frazier moved into the top 15 list of Illini career scorers Friday, now at No. 14 with 1,482 points.
• Illinois ranks 38th in the NCAA in assists, averaging 16.5 apg. Illinois is averaging 19.8 assists during its current four-game win streak (79), compared to 13.3 apg through its first four games (53).
• Illinois is shooting 53.6% during its winning streak (118-220) – topping 52% in three of those four games – compared to 39.1% through the first four games (97-248).
• Illinois also is shooting 41% from 3-point land over the last four games while making an average of 10.8 threes (43-105), compared to 23.9% the previous three games with an average of 5.6 makes (17-71).
• Illinois has averaged just 11.7 turnovers over the last three games (35) after committing 18.0 turnovers through the first five games (90).
Stripe State Farm Next
Illinois' next home game on Saturday 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 Arizona game is sold out, but tickets can be found through Illinois' secondary ticket partner StubHub.
Notes from the Last Time Out: Illinois 86, Rutgers 51 | Box Score
• The 35-point win marked Illinois' largest margin of victory in a Big Ten game since Feb. 23, 2005, when the No. 1 Illini defeated Northwestern by 36 in Champaign (84-48).
• Illinois led by 20 after the first half (43-23), its largest halftime lead in a Big Ten game since holding a 23-point advantage over Minnesota on Jan. 16, 2019 (51-28).
• Illinois won its 10th-consecutive game at State Farm Center, and sixth-straight Big Ten home game.
• Illinois tied its season high with 12 made 3-pointers.
• Illinois was +14 on the glass (47-33), outrebounding its seventh opponent in eight games.
• Illinois had a season-low 10 turnovers.
• Kofi Cockburn continued his streak of double-doubles in every game of his career against Rutgers, marking his fifth in five tries. Cockburn had 13 points and season-high 15 rebounds.
• It was Cockburn's most rebounds in a game since grabbing 15 vs. Indiana on Dec. 26, 2020.
• It also marked Cockburn's 31st career double-double.
• Alfonso Plummer had a game-high 24 points. It marked his fourth-straight game scoring 20+ points, the longest streak of his career. He previously had 21 vs. Kansas State (Nov. 23), season-high 30 vs. UTRGV (Nov. 26) and 21 vs. Notre Dame (Nov. 29).
• Jacob Grandison scored 16, his highest point total in Big Ten play.
• Omar Payne grabbed a season-high 7 rebounds.
» Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)
