#17 Illini Hosts Maryland Thursday at State Farm Center

No. 17 Illinois hosts Maryland on Thursday night (8 p.m. CT, FS1) in the first of back-to-back home games in four days at State Farm Center.  

Illinois is coming off a 70-68 heartbreaker Sunday at Big Ten leader and 12th-ranked Michigan State. 

The loss at Michigan State snapped a three-game Big Ten road winning streak for the Fighting Illini. 

Freshman Will Riley led the Illini against the Spartans, coming off the bench to score a game-high 19 points for his first double-digit scoring game in league play since posting 12 in his B1G debut at Northwestern on Dec. 6. Overall, it marked Riley’s ninth double-digit scoring game of the season.  

Kasparas Jakucionis has been named Midseason All-America third team by The Sporting News. Jakucionis was one of just two freshmen among the 15 players recognized, along with Duke’s Cooper Flagg.

Illinois is 8-2 overall at State Farm Center this season with its losses at the buzzer to No. 1 Tennessee on Dec. 14 and to Big Ten newcomer USC in the Illini’s most recent home game on Jan. 11. 

The Fighting Illini have outscored opponents by an average of 28.0 points at State Farm Center.  

Illinois is No. 8 in the latest NCAA NET rankings, first among Big Ten teams. The Illini are tied for 10th nationally with four Quad 1 wins.

Maryland, which ranks 24th in the NET rating, is the third of four Quad 1 matchups in the Illini’s final five-games to close out the month of January. 

Illinois is No. 9 in the latest KenPom net rating at 26.91, the top mark in the Big Ten. The Fighting Illini are on pace for their third top-10 ranking of the Underwood era, and the highest since finishing No. 4 with a rating of 29.06 in 2020-21. 

Four of Illinois’ last five wins have come by 25+ points. The Illini defeated Chicago State, 117-64 (+53), recorded an historic 109-77 (+32) victory at No. 9 Oregon, earned a 91-52 (+39) home win over Penn State, and rolled to a 94-69 (+25) victory at Indiana.  

Illinois is currently averaging 86.8 points, the team’s highest mark in 59 years, since averaging 87.4 ppg in 1965-66. Illinois is on pace for the No. 4 scoring offense mark in program history. 

Illinois ranks first in the Big Ten with a scoring margin of +18.8 points. That is on pace for No. 2 in the Illini record book behind the 1942-43 team, which outscored opponents by 20.6 points per game. The UI’s top mark in the modern era is +15.9 ppg set in 2004-05.

Illinois ranks second nationally in rebounding at 45.2 boards per game, on pace for the program’s best average in 53 seasons, since posting 48.0 rebounds per contest in 1971-72. The Orange and Blue have outrebounded their opponent in 16 of 18 games this season. 

The Illini rank No. 10 in Ken Pom adjusted defensive efficiency (92.6), on pace for its highest ranking since reaching seventh during the 2021 season, and the second-best number of the Underwood era (88.9 in 2021).  

Illinois is sixth nationally in Ken Pom’s effective field goal percentage defense (.431), ranking fifth in 3-point defense (.279) and ninth in 2-point defense (.436). Illinois joins Florida (9th in 2-point defense, 4th in 3-point defense) as the only programs to rank in the top 10 in both categories. 

Illinois is 3-3 against Top-25 ranked teams this season with wins over No. 19 Arkansas, No. 20 Wisconsin, and at No. 9 Oregon. The Illini’s three ranked wins are tied for fifth most in the nation. 

Illinois is a combined 5-3 in road and neutral games away from State Farm Center this season, with a 3-2 mark in true road contests.

Brad Underwood has led the Illini program to Top-25 rankings in six consecutive seasons, currently at No. 17 in the latest polls. Illinois has been ranked for a total of seven weeks this season, including an active streak of five-consecutive weeks, and has reached as high as 13th.

Illinois has registered 74 wins in league play since the start of the 2019-20 season, one behind Purdue for the most in the conference over the last six seasons. And when including the conference tournament, the Illini have 80 wins during this time span, also one behind Purdue’s mark. 

The Illini won the 2024 Big Ten Tournament championship as the #2 seed, captured the regular season championship in 2022, and led the conference in wins while adding a B1G Tournament crown in 2021, and the team’s three total championships during that span are tied with Purdue for the most in the Big Ten.  

Illinois has the Big Ten’s best road record since the start of the 2019-20 season. During this span, the Illini are 32-23 (.582) in conference road games, and have finished .500 or better in four of the last five seasons.  

Following the 2024 Elite Eight appearance and Big Ten Tournament Championship, Illinois has a dramatically different roster this season. The program returns just one rotation player – last year’s ninth-leading scorer Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn – and returns just 2.9% of its minutes, 2.2% of its points, and 2.0% of its rebounds overall.

Newcomers to the Illini roster have accounted for 92.5% of the team’s scoring so far (1,428 of 1,543 total points), with UI freshmen accounting for 39.3% of those points (561).

Eight different Illini players have recorded a 20-point game this season, tied for the top mark in the NCAA, and the most by any Big Ten program since at least 2004-05. 

Four of the Illinois’ top scorers and rebounders are all in their first year of collegiate basketball. Freshman G Kasparas Jakucionis ranks first in scoring (15.9 ppg) and fifth in rebounding (5.1 rpg). Sophomore C Tomislav Ivisic nearly averages a double-double at 13.0 points (second on team) and a team-leading 8.5 rebounds. Freshman F Will Riley is the Illini’s No. 4 scorer at 11.0 points per game. And Freshman F Morez Johnson Jr. ranks second on the team at 6.7 rebounds per game with a team-leading 45 offensive boards (2.5 per game). 

At 15.9 points per game, Kasparas Jakucionis is on pace to tie the Illini freshman scoring average record of set by Kiwane Garris 31 years ago. 

Morez Johnson Jr., at 6.7 rebounds per game , is on track for the fourth-best freshman mark in Illini history. 

Ben Humrichous led the Illini in scoring in consecutive home games – 21 vs. Penn State and 15 vs. USC – with a combined eight 3-pointers. Humrichous is averaging 11.0 points and 4.9 rebounds over the last seven contests, while knocking down 16 3-pointers on .410 (16-39) shooting from beyond the arc. 

Humrichous is one of two Big Ten players to knock down a 3-pointer in every game this season, along with Ohio State guard John Mobley Jr.  

After opening the year averaging 7.1 points and 5.0 rebounds in his first eight games, Tre White has found a rhythm on the court for the Illini. Beginning with a 23-point, 8 rebound effort vs. #20 Wisconsin on Dec. 10, White is averaging 13.2 points and 5.8 rebounds over the last 10 games, scoring in double figures seven times.

During that same 10-game stretch, Kylan Boswell is averaging 14.2 points (142), 6.4 rebounds (64), and 4.5 assists (45). He scored a career-high 22 points in the Illini’s win at Indiana (Jan. 14), and posted the seventh triple-double in program history vs. Chicago State (18 p, 10 r, 10a) on Dec. 29. 

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn continues to make a big impact off the bench for the Illini in his sophomore season. Over his last eight games, Gibbs-Lawhorn is averaging 10.1 points while shooting 53.4% (31-58) from the field. 

Morez Johnson Jr. is also excelling for the Illini. Over his last eight games Johnson is averaging 7.9 points (63) and 7.4 rebounds (59), highlighted by a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double in the win over Penn State (Jan. 8). 

Junior guard Kylan Boswell recorded the seventh triple-double in Illinois history and fifth of the Underwood era against Chicago State, tallying 18 points, career-high 10 rebounds, and career-high 10 assists. 

Point guard Kasparas Jakucionis scored 20+ points in six straight games from Nov. 25-Dec. 22, shattering the Illini freshman record for consecutive 20-point games (previous record was two). He has seven 20-point games this season. 

Jakucionis became the fourth Big Ten freshman since 1996-97 with at least six-straight 20-point games, and the first to do so since Indiana’s Eric Gordon had seven in a row in 2007.

Jakucionis is averaging 18.5 points (203) over his last 11 games, knocking down an average of 2.5 threes per game (28) on 44.4% from 3-point range (28-63) along with 89.1% from the foul line (49-55).

Tomislav Ivisic is the No. 6 rebounder in the Big Ten at 8.5 rpg. Ivisic has led the Illini rebounding effort, which ranks No. 2 nationally in total rebounds per game, in 11 of 18 contests. 

Ivisic, classified as sophomore in his first season of collegiate competition, has recorded seven double-doubles through 18 games, ranking third in the Big Ten, tied for 25th in the NCAA overall, and first among power conference underclassmen. 

Only 15 games into his college career, Kasparas Jakucionis already has seven 20-point games, just one away from equaling the Illini all-time record for 20-point games by a freshman. Cory Bradford (1998-99) set the current Illini mark with eight. Jakucionis is tied for second with Ayo Dosunmu (2018-19) and Kiwane Garris (1993-94) at seven each. 

Jakucionis‘ seven 20-point contests make him the fifth freshman of the Underwood era to record at least five such games in his rookie season, joining Dosunmu (7 in 2018-19), Trent Frazier (5 in 2017-18), Giorgi Bezhanishvili (5 in 2018-19), and Kofi Cockburn (5 in 2019-20).

Three Illini scored 20+ points vs. Penn State – Ben Humrichous (21), Morez Johnson Jr. (20) and Tre White (20). It marked just the third time in the last 35 seasons that Illinois had a game featuring a trio of 20-point scorers.  

Freshman F Morez Johnson Jr. recorded his second double-double of the season Illinois’ Jan. 8 win over Penn State, recording a career-high 20 points and pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds. 

Through 18 games, Johnson has recorded 19 total blocks, tied for eighth in the Illini freshman record book, and one behind Nnanna Egwu who posted 20 rejections in 2011-12. Johnson is on pace to finish his freshman season third among Illini freshmen all-time behind only Deon Thomas (54 in 1990-91) and Kofi Cockburn (44 in 2019-20). 

According to KenPom, the Illini rank fifth nationally, and first among Power Conference programs, with a 3-point attempt rate (3-point attempts/total field goal attempts) of 30.8%.  

Illinois leads the Big Ten in nine team statistical categories, with the following NCAA rankings: defensive rebounds per game (1st in NCAA; 31.8), rebound margin (2nd; 11.7), total rebounds per game (2nd; 45.2), scoring margin (5th; +18.8), 3-point percentage defense (6th; .279), 3-point attempts per game (8th; 31.1), field goal percentage defense (16th; .388), offensive rebounds per game (32nd; 13.4), and free-throw attempts per game (33rd; 23.6).

Illinois’ 32-point road win over #9 Oregon was the largest margin of victory ever by a road team over an AP Top-10 opponent, and the largest road win in Illinois program history against any top-25 opponent. 

In their 109-77 win at #9 Oregon, Illinois became the first Big Ten team since Feb. 9, 1989, to record 100+ points in a Top-10 road win (No. 10 Michigan defeated No. 8 Iowa, 108-107).

Illinois also posted a dominant 94-69 win at Indiana on Jan. 14. The 25-point margin of victory was the second-largest for a Hoosiers’ opponent in Assembly Hall history, while Illinois’ 94 points marked the most ever scored by a visiting team in a regulation game at Assembly Hall.