#18 Illini Host Ohio State Sunday in Sold-Out Coaches vs. Cancer Matchup

No. 18 Illinois returns to sold-out State Farm Center on Sunday, hosting Ohio State at 12 p.m. CT in a nationally televised game on CBS.

The Fighting Illini are coming off an overtime road loss at Nebraska (80-74) on Thursday night, looking for consecutive Big Ten home wins after an 83-74 victory over Northwestern last Sunday. 

Illinois is 111-82 all-time vs. Ohio State in a series that dates back 110 years to 1914-15. 

Head coach Brad Underwood is 6-6 against Ohio State and has led Illinois to wins in five of the last seven meetings, including a road win in Columbus in the lone regular-season matchup last year, and a 77-74 come-from-behind win in the quarterfinal to open the Illini’s 2024 Big Ten Tournament Championship run. 

Illinois is the nation’s top rebounding team, leading the NCAA in rebounds per game (45.6 rpg) and rebound margin (+11.7 rpg).

Illinois is No. 14 in the latest NCAA NET rankings, second in the Big Ten. The Illini are tied for 10th nationally with four Quad 1 wins.

The Illini are looking to secure at least 10 wins at State Farm Center for the sixth-consecutive season under Brad Underwood. Since 2019-20, the Illini boast the third-best home record in the Big Ten at 78-16 (.830). Nationally, that ranks 13th among teams that have played each of the last six seasons in a power conference. 

Illinois is a combined 5-4 away from State Farm Center this season, with a 3-3 mark in true road contests. The Illini had won three straight conference road games prior to an 80-78 heartbreaker at No. 12 Michigan State on Jan. 19, and an 80-74 overtime loss at Nebraska on Jan. 30.  

Illinois has the Big Ten’s best road record since the start of the 2019-20 season. During this span, the Illini are 32-24 (.571) in conference road games. 

At 3-3 in conference road games so far this season, the Illini are on pace to finish .500 or better on the road in league play for the fifth time in the last six seasons. 

Kasparas Jakucionis is a unanimous selection to the five-player Freshman All-America Team by The Athletic. 

Jakucionis has also 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.

Jakucionis recorded 21 points, seven rebounds and seven assists last Thursday vs. Maryland, his eighth 20-point game of the season which ties the Illinois program freshman record. He followed that performance with back-to-back double-doubles vs. Northwestern (11-point, 10-rebound) and at Nebraska (18 points, 13 rebounds).  

Illinois is No. 18 in the latest KenPom net rating at 24.42. The Fighting Illini are on pace for their fourth top-20 rating in the last five seasons under Brad Underwood. 

Four of Illinois’ last six 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. The Illini have led by 25+ points in nine games this season.  

Illinois is averaging 85.2 points, the team’s highest output since the 1988-89 Flyin’ Illini averaged 86.4 ppg. Illinois is on pace for the No. 6 scoring offense mark in program history. 

Illinois ranks second in the Big Ten with a scoring margin of +15.2 points. That is on pace for No. 3 in the Illini record book behind the 1942-43 team, which outscored opponents by 20.6 points per game, and the 2004-05 Illini that posted a scoring margin of +15.9 ppg., the team’s best mark since 1960. 

Illinois leads the nation in rebounding at 45.6 boards per game, on pace for the program’s best average in 53 seasons, since ( 48.0 rpg in 1971-72). The Orange and Blue have outrebounded their opponent in 18 of 21 games this season. 

The Illini rank No. 12 in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (93.7), 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 KenPom’s effective field goal percentage defense (.439), ranking seventh in 3-point defense (.284) and 15th in 2-point defense (.445). Illinois and Florida are the only two programs to rank in the top 15 of both categories.  

According to KenPom, the Illini rank third nationally, and first among Power Conference programs, with a 3-point attempt rate (3-point attempts/total field goal attempts) of 30.1%. Among major conference teams, Illinois ranks first nationally with five games of 15+ made 3-pointers. 

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 10th most in the nation. 

Brad Underwood has led the Illini program to Top-25 rankings in seven consecutive seasons, currently at No. 18 in the latest AP poll and 20th in the coaches poll. Illinois has been ranked for a total of eight weeks this season, including an active streak of six -consecutive weeks, and has reached as high as 13th.

Illinois has registered 75 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.  

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.

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. 

Newcomers to the Illini roster have accounted for 91.5% of the team’s scoring so far (1,619 of 1,770 total points), with UI freshmen accounting for 40.5% of those points (656).

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 (16.0 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.8 rpg). Sophomore C Tomislav Ivisic nearly averages a double-double at 13.0 points (second on team) and team-leading 8.5 rebounds. Freshman F Will Riley is the Illini’s No. 4 scorer at 10.4 points per game. And Freshman F Morez Johnson Jr. ranks second on the team at 6.5 rebounds per game with a team-leading 52 offensive boards (2.5 per game). 

At 16.0 points per game, point guard Kasparas Jakucionis is on pace to break the Illini freshman scoring average record of 15.9 ppg set by Kiwane Garris 31 years ago. 

Jakucionis has posted four game this season with 20+ points, 6+ rebounds and 5+ assists, tied for third  nationally with Auburn fifth-year senior Johni Broome and Purdue junior Braden Smith.

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).  

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 has eight 20-point games this season, tying the Illini all-time record for 20-point games by a freshman with Cory Bradford who set the current mark as a redshirt freshman in 1998-99. 

Over his last 14 games, Jakucionis is averaging 17.9 points (251), 5.7 rebounds (81), and 5.2 assists (73), knocking down an average of 2.3 threes per game (32) on 39.0% from 3-point range (32-82) along with 87.5% from the foul line (63-72). 

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. 1 nationally in total rebounds per game, in 11 of the 18 games in which he has played. 

Ivisic, classified as sophomore in his first season of collegiate competition, has recorded seven double-doubles through 18 games, ranking fifth in the Big Ten, tied for 40th in the NCAA overall, and tied for first among power conference underclassmen. 

Ben Humrichous has knocked down at least one 3-pointer in 19 of 21 games this season. He leads the team and ranks 13th in the Big Ten averaging 2.0 triples per contest. 

After opening the year averaging 7.1 points and 5.0 rebounds in 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 12.1 points (157) and 6.2 rebounds (80) over the last 13 games, scoring in double figures seven times.

During that same 13-game stretch, Kylan Boswell is averaging 13.9 points (181), 6.4 rebounds (83), and 3.9 assists (51). He scored a career-high 22 points in the Illini’s win at Indiana (Jan. 14). 

Boswell recorded the seventh triple-double in Illinois history and fifth of the Underwood era against Chicago State (Dec. 29), tallying 18 points, career-high 10 rebounds, and career-high 10 assists. 

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn continues to make a big impact off the bench for the Illini in his sophomore season. Over his last 11 games, Gibbs-Lawhorn is averaging 10.4 points (114) while shooting 54.5% (42-77) from the field.  

Morez Johnson Jr. is also excelling for the Illini. Over his last 11 games Johnson is averaging 8.0 points (88) and 6.9 rebounds (76), highlighted by a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double in the win over Penn State (Jan. 8), and a 15-point, nine-rebound effort in his second-career start vs. Northwestern on Jan. 26. 

Johnson, at 6.5 rebounds per game, is on track for the fourth-best freshman mark in Illini history. 

Johnson posted his third double-double of the season in Illinois’ Jan. 8 win over Penn State, recording a career-high 20 points and pulling down a game-high 11 rebounds. 

Through 21 games, Johnson has recorded 26 total blocks, tied for seventh in the Illini freshman record book with Giorgi Bezhanishvili (2018-19). 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). 

Illinois leads the Big Ten in seven team statistical categories, with the following NCAA rankings: total rebounds per game (1st in NCAA; 45.6), defensive rebounds per game (1st; 31.8), rebound margin (1st; 11.7), 3-point attempts per game (4th; 31.5), 3-point percentage defense (10th; .284), offensive rebounds per game (22nd; 13.8), and field goal percentage defense (25th; .397). 

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.  

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.