#2 Seed ILLINOIS (20-6, 16-4) at the Big Ten Tournament
Tournament Central	Big Ten Tournament
Quarterfinals	vs. Rutgers/Indiana
Date | Time	Friday, March 12, 2021 | 5:30 p.m. CT (6:30 p.m. ET)
Location	Indianapolis, Ind. | Lucas Oil Stadium
Television	BTN (Kevin Kugler, Stephen Bardo & Andy Katz)
Live Stream	foxsports.com/live | FOX Sports App
Radio	Busey Bank Illini Sports Network | Listen | TuneIn | Sirius (Ch 84) XM (Ch. 84)
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Printable Notes	Illinois
Stats	Illinois | Big Ten
Dosunmu & Cockburn Info	FightingIllini.com/mbbawards
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Head Coach Brad Underwood

Career Record: 176-82 (.682), 8th year
At Illinois: 67-55 (.549), 4th year
Big Ten: 40-38 (.513)
Big Ten Tournament: 1-2

Series Notes vs. Rutgers

Record: Illinois leads 8-3
Streak: Rutgers W-2
Record in Big Ten Tournament: N/A
Underwood vs. Rutgers: 4-2
This Year's Meeting: #19 RUT 91, #13 ILL 88 (12/20 @RUT)

Series Notes vs. Indiana

Record: Indiana leads 93-90
Streak: Illinois W-3
Record in Big Ten Tournament: Illinois leads 6-2
Underwood vs. Indiana: 4-3
This Year's Meetings: #18 ILL 69, IND 60 (12/26 @ ILL) & #12 ILL 75, IND 71, OT (2/2 @IND)

Illini Big Ten Tournament (BTT) Notes

• Illinois' No. 2 seed is its highest since 2009, when the Illini also were seeded second in the BTT.

• Illinois is a No. 2 seed in the BTT for the fourth time. Illinois is 5-2 as the No. 2 seed, winning the championship in 2003 and advancing to the semifinals in 1998 and 2009.

• Illinois has earned a double-bye for the second year in a row under the current BTT format (began in 2015). 

• Illinois owns a 16-6 record (.727) when playing its opening game of the BTT. 

• Illinois is 12-5 (.706) in the quarterfinal round of the BTT.

• Illinois will not know its quarterfinal opponent until the result of Thursday's second-round game between No. 7 seed Rutgers and No. 10 seed Indiana. The Illini have never met Rutgers in the BTT, and are 6-2 vs. Indiana in the BTT.

• Illinois is 18-6 in BTT games when it is the higher seed.

• Illinois is 11-10 all-time in BTT games played in Indianapolis, with championship game appearances in 2004 and 2008.

• With the cancelation of last year's event, Illinois has just four scholarship players with BTT experience: seniors Trent Frazier and Da'Monte Williams (three games apiece) and juniors Ayo Dosunmu and Giorgi Bezhanishvili (two games each).

• Illinois' active BTT scoring leader is junior Trent Frazier, who totaled 45 points over three games as a freshman and sophomore. 

• Sophomore Giorgi Bezhanishvili shot 81.8% in the 2019 BTT, making 18-of-22 over two games to set the Illini BTT field goal percentage record.

• Illinois has won two BTT championships (2003 and 2005), one of six conference schools to win multiple titles.

• Illinois is tied for the third-most all-time BTT wins with 28. 

1. Michigan State, 32
2. Ohio State, 31
T3. ILLINOIS & Michigan, 28

• Illinois owns the fourth-most BTT championship game appearances, advancing to the title game six times.

1. Ohio State, 9
T2. Michigan State & Wisconsin, 7
4. ILLINOIS, 6

• Illinois has advanced to the BTT semifinals 12 times, tied for the second-most semifinal appearances.

1. Michigan State, 15
T2. ILLINOIS & Wisconsin, 12
4. Ohio State, 11

• Illinois has appeared in the BTT quarterfinals in all but five years, with those 17 appearances the fifth-most of any school.

1. Michigan State, 22
2. Wisconsin, 21
3. Ohio State, 19
4. Michigan, 18
5. ILLINOIS, 17

Illini Items

• Winners of four straight and 11 of its last 12, No. 3 Illinois heads to Indianapolis for the Big Ten Tournament. Illinois is the 2 seed and opens play Friday in the Quarterfinal round against the winner of Rutgers vs. Indiana.

• Illinois has won 20 games, recording the 34th 20-win season in school history. Following last year's 21-win regular season, Illinois has back-to-back 20-win campaigns since 2013 (23) and 2014 (20).

• Illinois went 16-4 in conference play, the winningest Big Ten season in school history. The previous UI record of 15 league victories was set in 1984 (15-3, co-champions) and equaled in 2005 (15-1, champions).

• Illinois won its last three games, all on the road over an 8-day span against teams ranked in the top 11 in kenpom at Wisconsin (11), at Michigan (3) and at Ohio State (7). 

• The victories at No. 2 Michigan and at No. 7 Ohio State were Illinois' first against top-10 teams in back-to-back games since the 2005 NCAA Tournament, when the No. 1-ranked Illini defeated No. 9 Arizona in the Elite Eight and No. 4 Louisville in the Final Four.

• Illinois is fourth in the current NET rankings (as of March 10), challenging for a No. 1 seed.

• Illinois leads the nation with nine Quad 1 wins. The Illini own a combined 14 victories in Quads 1 and 2, meanwhile, tied for second nationally behind Alabama (15).

• Illinois is one of only three teams ranked in the top 10 in both offensive (7th) and defensive (6th) efficiency by kenpom, joined by Michigan and Houston.

• Illinois won nine road games, most among high-major conference teams and tied for fourth-most in the NCAA.

• Illinois is No. 3 this week, its highest ranking since claiming the No. 1 spot in the final AP poll of 2005. The Illini are in the Top 5 of a March poll for just the fourth time in the last 65 seasons (1989, 2001, 2005, 2021).

• The Illini have recorded a total of seven top-10 wins the last three years under Coach Underwood, including an active streak of four straight this season:

at No. 10 Duke (12/8) No. 7 Iowa (1/29) at No. 2 Michigan (3/2) at No. 7 Ohio State (3/6) 

The school record for top-10 wins in a single season is five, set by the 1989 Flyin' Illini.

• Leading the Illini is Ayo Dosunmu. Owning numbers of 20.9 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.2 assists per game, Dosunmu is not only on his way to First-Team All-America status, but contending for National Player of the Year as well. He is the only player in the NCAA over the last 11 seasons to average at least 20 points, six rebounds and five assists, all while leading Illinois Basketball back among the nation's elite.

• Dosunmu is on pace to become just the second Big Ten player since 1993 to average 20 points, six rebounds and five assists, joining Ohio State's Evan Turner, the National Player of the Year in 2009-10.

• Dosunmu is a semifinalist for the Naismith Trophy and Wooden Award, finalist for the Cousy Award, and a unanimous first-team All-American by Sporting News and Sports Illustrated. 

• Dosunmu recorded two triple doubles last month (vs. Wisconsin and at Minnesota) to join Michigan State's Magic Johnson as the only two players in Big Ten history with multiple triple doubles in league play.

• A unanimous first-team All-Big Ten selection, Dosunmu is the league's second-leading scorer while also leading the conference in assists. 

• Dosunmu has scored in double figures in 38 straight games, the third-longest active streak in the NCAA.

• Kofi Cockburn ranks second in the NCAA with 15 double-doubles this season. He posted double-doubles in 12 Big Ten games, averaging 18.6 points and 9.9 rebounds during league play. 

• Cockburn is a semifinalist for the Wooden Award, finalist for the Abdul-Jabbar Award, a second-team All-American by Sporting News and a third-team All-American by Sports Illustrated. 

• Cockburn's season-rebounding average has recently dipped under 10. At 17.5 ppg and 9.6 rpg, Cockburn is vying to become the first Illini player since Nick Weatherspoon in 1973 (25.0 ppg, 12.3 rpg) to average a double-double for an entire season.

• Dosunmu and Cockburn are combining for 38.2 points per game, the seventh-highest scoring duo nationally, and third among the high-major conferences. 

• Trent Frazier has seen his scoring increase recently, averaging 13.4 points (161) and shooting 38% from 3-point range (27-71) while making an average of 2.3 treys over the last 12 games. He has scored in double figures in seven of the last 12 games, with three performances of 20+ points.

• Freshman Andre Curbelo ranked third in the Big Ten in assists during league play at 4.5 apg. He is averaging 4.2 assists on the season, standing fifth on the school's all-time freshman assists chart behind legendary Illini point guards Bruce Douglas, Derek Harper, Dee Brown and Deron Williams.

• Curbelo has scored in double figures in each of the last five games, averaging 15.0 points (63) and 6.8 rebounds (34) and shooting 58% (29-50).

» Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)