Hail to the Orange Out: ILLINOIS (11-5, 2-3)  vs.  Michigan State (12-4, 4-1)
Date | Time	Friday, Jan. 13, 2023 | 8 p.m. CT
Location	Champaign, Ill. | State Farm Center
Tickets	FightingIllini.com
Television	FS1 (Brandon Gaudin & Casey Jacobsen)
Live Stream	foxsports.com/live/fs1 | FOX Sports App
Radio	Busey Bank Illini Sports Network | Varsity Network App | SiriusXM 84, SXM App 84
Live Stats	Statbroadcast
Printable Notes	Illinois | Michigan State
Pregame Press Conference	Coach Underwood (Jan. 12)
Stats	Illinois | Michigan State
Record Book	Illinois
Shop	Online Store | Auctions
Social Media	@IlliniMBB | #Illini | @IlliniMBB | Facebook | YouTube

Head Coach Brad Underwood

Career Record: 214-98 (.686), 10th year
At Illinois: 105-71 (.597), 6th year
Big Ten: 57-46 (.553)

Series Notes vs. Michigan State

All-Time Record: Michigan State leads 64-62
Streak: Illinois W-2
Last Meeting: #12 Illinois 79, #19 Michigan State 74 (Feb. 19, 2022 at East Lansing)
Record at Champaign: Illinois leads 40-21
Streak at Champaign: Illinois W-1
Last Meeting at Champaign: #24 Illinois 56, #10 Michigan State 55 (Jan. 25, 2022)
Underwood vs. Michigan State: 3-4

Opening Tips

• Illinois returns home looking to improve to .500 in league play (2-3), hosting Big Ten co-leader Michigan State (4-1) Friday night (8 p.m. CT, FS1).

• Friday is Hail to the Orange Out at State Farm Center, with all Illini fans encouraged to wear Orange. T-shirts courtesy of Gameday Spirit will be passed out to the first 1,000 fans entering the arena.

• Illinois has won back-to-back games for the first time since Nov. 25-29. Michigan State, meanwhile, owns the league's longest active winning streak at seven in a row. 

• Illinois is aiming for back-to-back home wins over Michigan State for the first time since winning three straight over the Spartans in Champaign from Feb. 6, 2010 through Jan. 31, 2012. 

• Illinois continues its stretch of six games in 15 days from Jan. 4-19, with two-day preps for all six games.

• Illinois is the only team in the country with two kenpom top-10 wins (No. 4 UCLA and No. 8 Texas).

• Illinois leads the nation with three AP top-15 wins (No. 2 Texas, No. 8 UCLA and No. 14 Wisconsin), joined by Alabama and Arizona. 

• Terrence Shannon Jr. is the only power conference player – and one of just nine players nationally – averaging at least 18 points, five rebounds, three assists and one steal on the season.

• Shannon ranks fourth in the Big Ten in scoring (18.1 ppg), and is second in free throws made (79) and attempted (104).

• Shannon ranks third in the Big Ten with six 20-point games. He scored 25 in Tuesday's win at Nebraska, his second-most points against a power conference foe this season.

• Shannon's game-high 25 points at Nebraska followed his game-high 24 points in Saturday's win over No. 14 Wisconsin. This marks the third time in his career that Shannon has had back-to-back 20-point performances. He has yet to score 20+ in three consecutive games. 

• After scoring a season-low four points vs. Penn State on Dec. 10, Shannon is averaging 18.5 points over the last six games (111), including 24.5 points over the last two (49).

• After totaling just 11 rebounds over a five-game stretch from Dec. 10-Jan. 4, Shannon has pulled down 15 boards over the last two games, led by a season-high 11 at Nebraska.

• Coleman Hawkins is one of only two players nationally averaging at least 10 points, six rebounds, three assists, one block, and one steal (Jalen Slawson-Furman).

• Hawkins has scored in double figures in four straight games for the first time in his career, averaging 13.3 points (53) on 52.6% shooting (20-38).

• Dain Dainja ranks 17th nationally in 2-point field goal percentage at 71.7% (66-92).

• Dainja has made at least 60% from the field in 13 of 16 games.

• Dainja ranks 37th nationally in block rate (8.7) on the season. He has blocked at least three shots in each of the last four games, averaging 3.3 blocks during that stretch (13).

• Matthew Mayer has scored in double figures in seven of the last eight games, averaging 14.5 points (116).

• Freshman Jayden Epps has scored in double figures in five straight games, averaging 11.8 points (59).

• Illinois is a balanced offensive team, with seven players averaging at least 6.8 points.

• Illinois has had five players record a 20-point game this season, and eight players reach double figures scoring.

• Five different players have been Illinois' leading scorer in a game, while seven different players have been the UI's top rebounder.

• Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks fourth in the country in blocked shots, averaging 6.0 bpg. 

• Illinois has outrebounded 14 of 16 opponents and is No. 24 in the NCAA with a 6.6 average rebound margin.

• Illinois reserves are combining to score 24.1 points per game, ranking second in the Big Ten. The Illini bench has outscored its opponent in 12 of 15 games, and by an average of 8.3 points.

• Illinois is making 9.0 three-pointers per game, ranking second in the Big Ten and 44th nationally. Last season the Illini set a school single-season record, averaging 8.9 made threes.

• The Illini defense is forcing 15.6 turnovers per game, ranking second in the B1G. Illinois is scoring an average of 16.8 points off opponent turnovers.

• Illinois has six newcomers among its current 8-man playing rotation. The Illinois rotation features five underclassmen: three true freshmen and two sophomores.

• Illinois is a dramatically different team this season, welcoming three power-five transfers and five freshmen in a top-10 ranked recruiting class to account for eight scholarship newcomers. 

• Illinois' revamped roster ranks No. 299 in experience  and No. 346 in minutes continuity according to kenpom, ahead of only three power conference teams.

• Illinois is replacing all five regular starters, its top five leading scorers, and a total of 10 players from last year's Big Ten champions. The Illini lost 86% of its points, 80% of its rebounds, and 83% of its minutes played from a year ago.

• Illinois is the winningest team in the Big Ten over the last three-plus seasons, registering a 46-19 mark in league play. The Illini won the regular season championship in 2022, led the conference in wins while adding a B1G Tournament crown in 2021, and finished one game back of the title in 2020.

Elite Company

Terrence Shannon Jr. had a dominating all-around performance in Tuesday's win at Nebraska, totaling 25 points, season-high 11 rebounds, four assists, and career-high tying four steals. Shannon is one of just four Big Ten players in the last 20 years to record a 25/10/4/4 game, and the only one to do so on the road:

Carl Landry, Purdue – 25 pts, 12 reb, 4 ast, 6 stl (Feb. 28, 2007 vs. Minnesota)
JaJuan Johnson, Purdue – 25 pts, 11 reb, 5 ast, 4 stl (Nov. 21, 2010 vs. Oakland)
Ethan Happ, Wisconsin – 28 pts, 10 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl (Jan. 2, 2018 vs. Indiana)
Terrence Shannon Jr., Illinois – 25 pts, 11 reb, 4 ast, 4 stl (Jan. 10, 2023 at Nebraska)

Last Time Out: Illini 76, Nebraska 50  Box Score

• The 26-point victory marked Illinois' largest margin on the road since Feb. 20, 2021 (94-63 win at Minnesota).

• Illinois has now won three-straight games in Lincoln for the first time in program history.

• The Illini had five players score in double digits for the second time this season (Bethune-Cookman).

• The Illini held the Huskers to 23 first-half points, the sixth time this season they have held an opponent to 23 points or fewer in a half.

• Illinois forced more turnovers (10) in the first half than field goals allowed (9).

• Illinois went on to force a total of 17 turnovers in the game, scoring 16 points on those turnovers.

• The Illini blocked seven shots, their fourth-straight game with at least six blocks.

• Illinois outrebounded Nebraska 41-33, including 13-9 on offensive rebounds. Illinois now has outrebounded 14 of 16 opponents.

• The Illini recorded 14 assists on their 28 field goals.

• Terrence Shannon Jr. scored a game-high 25 points and grabbed a season-high 11 rebounds for his second double-double of the season and fourth of his career. He also tied his career high with 4 steals and had 4 assists.

• Shannon becomes the first Illini player in the last 14 years to have a 25/10/4/4 game.

• Shannon tallied his most points in the last 12 games, and his sixth 20-point game this season.

• Shannon made a career-high 10 field goals, going 10-for-17 from the floor.

• Shannon has 20-point scoring efforts in back-to-back contests for the second time this season, and third time in his career.

• Shannon scored 17 of his 25 points in the first half.

• Coleman Hawkins scored 12 points and dished out five assists. Hawkins has double-digit scoring efforts in four-straight games, extending his career-best streak.

• Jayden Epps scored 11 points off of the bench on 5-for-6 shooting, his 11th double-digit scoring effort of the season and fifth-straight such game, extending his season-high streak.

• RJ Melendez scored 10 points off the bench, reaching double figures for the first time in eight games.

• Ty Rodgers scored four points and grabbed seven rebounds off of the bench, his highest rebound total since the season opener.

• Dain Dainja tallied seven rebounds, his fifth-straight game with at least six boards, and had 3 blocks for the third-straight game.

Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)