No. 3 Illini Visit No. 16 Texas Tech in Ranked Road Test Tuesday

Tuesday, November 10

Lubbock, Texas

7 pm CT

University of Illinois

Texas Tech

November 9, 2026 | Men's Basketball

News

#3/3 ILLINOIS (2-0) vs. #16/17 Texas Tech (2-0)
Date \| Time	Tuesday, Nov. 10, 2026 \| 7 p.m. CT
Location	Lubbock, Texas \| United Supermarkets Arena
Buy Tickets	TexasTech.com
STREAM/TV	Peacock / NBC Sports Network (John Fanta & Mike O'Donnell)
Radio	Busey Bank Illini Sports Network \| Varsity Network App \| Sirius XM 85 \| SXM App
Live Stats	StatBroadcast
Printable Notes	Illinois \| Texas Tech
Pregame Press Conference	Coach Underwood (Nov. 9)
2026-27 Stats	Illinois \| Texas Tech
Record Book	Illinois \| NCAA
Shop	Online Store \| Auctions
Social Media	@IlliniMBB \| #Illini \| @IlliniMBB \| Facebook \| YouTube

PROBABLE STARTERS (Based on previous game)
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Elig.	PPG	RPG	APG	Note
G	1	Lincoln Williams	6-5	180	Fr.	12.0	9.0	0.0	Started in Illini debut vs. Penn
G	2	Andrej Stojakovic	6-7	205	Sr.	22.5	6.0	4.0	Back-to-back 20+ pt games to open season
G	11	Quentin Coleman	6-4	180	Fr.	16.0	6.5	4.0	19 points (8-9 FGs) vs. Penn
C	13	Tomislav Ivisic	7-1	270	5th	6.0	3.5	4.0	Career-high 7 assists vs. Penn
G	34	Ethan Brown	6-4	185	Fr.	12.5	9.5	6.0	Double-double (13 p, 10 r) w/ 5 ast vs. Penn
OFF THE BENCH
Pos.	No.	Name	Ht.	Wt.	Elig.	PPG	RPG	APG	Note
F	0	David Mirkovic	6-9	250	So.	-	-	-	Preseason All-American
G	5	Quentin McCoy	6-1	170	Jr.	1.0	0.0	0.0	Played last two seasons at Arizona State
G	7	Stefan Vaaks	6-7	215	So.	15.5	4.5	3.5	20 pts in Illini debut vs. FDU
G	8	Blake Fagbemi	6-0	180	So.	4.0	2.0	0.5	Career-high 8 pts (2 3FGs) & 3 rebs vs. FDU
F	15	Jake Davis	6-6	210	Sr.	2.0	3.0	1.0	Out with shoulder injury suffered vs. FDU
F	22	Zavier Zens	6-7	215	Fr.	15.0	3.0	1.0	18 points (4-8 3FGs) vs. Penn
G	23	Lucas Morillo	6-7	210	Fr.	6.5	5.5	1.0	9 points, 8 rebounds in 19 minutes in debut vs. FDU
F	27	Landon Davis	6-9	220	Fr.	3.0	2.0	0.5	Two 3-pointers in college debut vs. FDU
C	31	Jason Jakstys	6-10	220	Jr.	2.0	3.5	1.0	Career-high two assists vs. FDU
F/C	44	Zvonimir Ivisic	7-2	250	5th	5.0	7.0	0.0	74 blocked shots in last two seasons

Head Coach Brad Underwood

Career Record: 304-137 (.689), 14th year
At Illinois: 195-110 (.639), 10th year
Big Ten: 107-71 (.601)

Series History vs. Texas Texh

All-Time Record: Illinois leads, 1-0
Last Meeting: #14 Illinois 81, #11 Texas Tech 77 (Nov. 11, 2025 in Champaign)
Record in Lubbock: 0-0
Underwood vs. Texas Tech at Illinois / All-Time: 1-0 / 3-0

Opening Tips

Illinois faces its first road test of the season, traveling to Lubbock, Texas, for a Tuesday night matchup vs. Texas Tech at United Supermarkets Arena (7 p.m. CT, Peacock/NBC Sports Network)
Tuesday opens a stretch of three games in eight days bookended by ranked road contests at #19 Texas Tech and #2 Duke (Nov. 17). In between, the Orange and Blue host Sam Houston on Friday at State Farm Center.
Illinois is looking for its road win over a ranked team in non-conference play since Dec. 8, 2020, when Brad Underwood's No. 6-ranked Illini posted a 83-68 victory over No. 10 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
Illinois and Texas Tech meet for just the second time. Last season the 14th-ranked Illini defeated the No. 11 Red Raiders 81-77, on Nov. 11 at State Farm Center. Andrej Stojakovic led the Illini with 23 points, and he blocked Christian Anderson's potential game-tying 3-point attempt with nine seconds left.
The Fighting Illini are off to a 2-0 start and are outscoring opponents by an average of 58.5 points, following a 120-45 win over FDU - with program records for largest margin of victory (75) and 3-pointers made (19) - and a 112-70 win over Penn in a rematch from the 2026 NCAA Tournament opening round.
Illinois is looking to start 3-0 for the sixth time under Brad Underwood, and the fourth time in the last five seasons.
The Fighting Illini are coming off the program's first Final Four appearance in 21 years, a 28-9 record to mark the fourth-most wins in school history, and a Big Ten runner-up finish (15-5).
Expectations for the 2026-27 season are high once again, as head coach Brad Underwood welcomes back five rotation players from the Final Four run in David Mirkovic, Andrej Stojakovic, Tomislav Ivisic, Zvonimir Ivisic, and Jake Davis while adding an impact transfer in Stefan Vaaks from Providence and a top-15 recruiting class consisting of six freshmen highlighted by High School All-American Quentin Coleman.
Illinois is No. 3 in both the AP Top 25 and Coaches Poll, and No. 4 by kenpom.
No. 3 is the second-highest preseason rank ever for Illinois, matching the No. 3 spot 25 years ago entering 2001-02. Brad Underwood has now led the Illini to preseason AP Top 25 rankings in six of the last seven seasons:
- No. 8 entering 2020-21
- No. 11 entering 2021-22
- No. 23 entering 2022-23
- No. 25 entering 2023-24
- No. 17 entering 2025-26
- No. 3 entering 2026-27
The Illini have finished 35th or better in kenpom rating in each of the last seven seasons, with a high of No. 4 in 2020-21. Illinois has had three consecutive top-20 final kenpom rankings:
- No. 10 in 2023-24
- No. 17 in 2024-25
- No. 5 in 2025-26
Illinois is the winningest team in Big Ten play this decade and is one of four programs nationally with seven straight 20-win regular seasons. Since the start of the 2019-20 season the Illini have posted 96 B1G victories. During that stretch, the Illini also own the most road wins in league play with 42.

Illinois vs. Texas Tech

Tuesday's contest is the second matchup ever between the Fighting Illini and the Red Raiders, following the No. 14 Illini's 81-77 win over the No. 11 Red Raiders last season at State Farm Center.
Brad Underwood is 3-0 all-time vs. Texas Tech, having led Oklahoma State to a regular-season sweep of TTU in 2016-17, his lone season in Stillwater.

Illinois vs. The Big 12

Illinois is 59-30 (.662) all-time against the current 16-team membership of the Big 12 Conference.
The Fighting Illini are 12-11 (.522) all-time in road games against the current members of the Big 12.
Illinois has won three straight matchups against the current membership of the Big 12 conference. In addition to last year's home win over TTU, the Orange and Blue have recorded a pair of NCAA Sweet 16 wins in 2026 vs. Houston (W, 65-55 in Houston, Texas/Toyota Center) and 2024 vs. Iowa State (W, 72-69 in Boston, Mass./TD Garden).
When accounting for conference affiliation at the time of the game, the Illini have won five straight matchups vs. Big 12 opponents, starting with an 84-70 victory over Kansas State (Nov. 23, 2021 in Hall of Fame Classic in Kansas City, Mo. / T-Mobile Center). The following season, 17th-ranked Illinois won in overtime vs. No. 2 Texas, 85-78, (Dec. 6, 2022 in the Jimmy V Classic in New York, N.Y. / Madison Square Garden).
Illinois played two exhibition matchups vs. the Big 12 in the leadup to the 2026-27 regular season, picking up a 105-96 win at Cincinnati on Oct. 17, before a 95-91 home loss to Baylor on Oct. 23.

Illinois-Texas Tech Connections

The Texas Tech roster features former Fighting Illini Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, now a senior in his first season with the Red Raiders' program. Gibbs-Lawhorn played two seasons at Illinois, then spent the 2025-26 season at UNLV where he led the Mountain West in scoring with (20.7 ppg) and knocked down 101 3-pointers.
Three members of the 2026-27 Illini roster - Jake Davis, Tomislav Ivisic, and Jason Jakstys - played with Gibbs-Lawhorn during his sophomore season at Illinois in 2024-25.
Former Fighting Illini All-American Terrence Shannon Jr. played three seasons at Texas Tech (2019-20 to 2021-22) before closing his college career at Illinois in 2023-24 and 2024-25. Shannon helped the Red Raiders to the NCAA Tournament Round of 32 in 2021 and Sweet 16 in 2022. As an Illini Shannon emerged as one of the program's best. He was named MOP of the Big Ten Tournament and earned NCAA All-Regional Team recognition, leading the Orange and Blue to the 2024 Big Ten Tournament title and a run to the Elite Eight. In his final season, Shannon shattered Illinois' single-season scoring record with 736 points despite missing six games, ranked third in the nation at 23.0 points per game, and set the Big Ten Tournament record with 102 points in three games during the Illini's championship run.

Illinois When Ranked

The No. 3 Illini have played 39 straight games when ranked inside the AP Top 25 dating back to the start of the 2024-25 season.
Illinois is 682-276 (.712) all-time in 958 games when ranked in the AP Top 25. The program is 371-56 at home, including a 293-43 mark at State Farm Center, 168-152 on the road, and 143-68 at neutral sites.
Under head coach Brad Underwood, Illinois is 121-51 (.703) when ranked.
Illinois has won multiple games vs. AP Top 25 opponents in eight straight seasons, including four or more ranked wins in five of the last six years:
- 2025-26: 6
- 2024-25: 5
- 2022-23: 5
- 2021-22: 4
- 2020-21: 8

Illinois in Top-25 Matchups

The No. 3 Illini will play their first ranked-vs.-ranked game of the season Tuesday at No. 16 Texas Tech.
Last year, the Illini went 6-7 in 13 matchups ranked-vs.-ranked contests with wins over No. 11 Texas Tech, vs. No. 13 Tennessee in Nashville, at No. 19 Iowa, at No. 4 Purdue, at No. 5 Nebraska, and vs. No. 5 Houston in the Sweet 16.
Illinois is 117-115 (.506) all-time in 232 games when both teams are ranked, 52-23 (.693) at home including a 41-18 (.695) mark at State Farm Center, 21-52 (.288) on the road, and 44-40 (.524) at neutral sites.
Illinois is 24-28 (.462) in ranked-vs.-ranked contests in the Brad Underwood era.

Taking on the Top

Illinois has 33 victories over ranked opponents since the start of the 2019-20 season, another highlight of the job Brad Underwood has done rebuilding the Fighting Illini program.
The Illini's 33 ranked wins since 2019-20 are tied for 11th nationally over the last eight seasons.
The Illini have recorded 16 wins against top 10-ranked opponents during that same span, tied for the second-most in the nation over the last eight seasons.
Eight of the Illini's ranked wins have been over top-5 opponents, tied for second-most in the nation over the last eight seasons.

Preseason Accolades

In the buildup to the 2026-27 season, four members of the Fighting Illini roster - David Mirkovic, Andrej Stojakovic, Tomislav Ivisic and Quentin Coleman - have been recognized as national preseason awards candidates.
David Mirkovic earned preseason first-team All-America honors from both the Associated Press and CBS Sports, and a second-team nod from Field of 68. He has also been named to preseason watch lists for Naismith Trophy Men's College Player of the Year, NABC Player of the Year, and the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year.
Andrej Stojakovic and Tomislav Ivisic joined Mirkovic on the Naismith Trophy Men's College Player of the Year watch list, and are each listed for the second straight season on watch lists for Julius Erving Small Forward of the Year and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Center of the Year, respectively.
David Mirkovic and Andrej Stojakovic were also tabbed as a preseason All-Big Ten selections.
Quentin Coleman is one of only three freshmen on the 20-player watch list for Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year. Last season, Illinois' freshman Keaton Wagler won the award.