#23 Illinois Opens Two-Game Road Swing at Rutgers Wednesday

No. 23 Illinois opens the first of back-to-back road games on Wednesday night at Rutgers (7:30 p.m. CT, BTN).

The Rutgers matchup is the third of five games in 13 days across four locations for the Illini from Jan. 30-Feb. 11.

The Fighting Illini are coming off a come-from-behind win over Ohio State on Sunday in which the Illini erased an 11-point second-half deficit to secure their 10th victory of the season at State Farm Center.

The freshman duo of Will Riley and Morez Johnson Jr. keyed the Illini win over the Buckeyes. Riley came off the bench to score 24 points, with 20 coming in the second half. His 24 points were the most by a freshman reserve in a Big Ten game this season. Johnson posted his third double-double of the year with 14 points and a team-season-high 15 rebounds (seven offensive). 

Will Riley has earned his second Big Ten Freshman of the Week award. He scored 16 points with a game-high four 3-pointers at Nebraska on Thursday before his 24-point outburst vs. Ohio State on Sunday. For the week, Riley averaged 20 points and 3.5 rebounds, shooting 52% from the field, including 45.5% from 3-point range.

Illinois is the nation’s top rebounding team, leading the NCAA in rebounds per game (45.5 rpg), defensive rebounds per game (31.8 rpg), and rebound margin (+11.7 rpg).

Illinois is No. 12 in the latest NCAA NET rankings, second in the Big Ten. The Illini are tied for fifth nationally with six Quad 1 wins.

Head coach Brad Underwood is 9-3 against Rutgers and has led Illinois to wins in five of the last six meetings, including an 86-63 victory in Piscataway last season as part of a season sweep.

Overall, Illinois owns a 13-4 lead in the all-time series with Rutgers. The Illini are 12-4 vs. the Scarlet Knights since Rutgers joined the Big Ten in 2014-15. 

In Illinois’ 87-79 win vs. Ohio State, the team improved to 14-1 on the season when scoring at least 80 points. The Illini’s 15 games with 80+ points are tied with Iowa for most in the Big Ten, and tied for sixth nationally with the Hawkeyes and No. 1-ranked Auburn. Among teams with at least 15 80-point games, Illinois’ .933 win percentage ranks third in the nation behind Auburn at 15-0 (1.000) and Alabama at 18-1 (.947).  

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 is 32-24 (.571) in Big Ten road games since the start of the 2019-20 season, the best mark in the league over the last six seasons. 

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. 

The Illini secured their 10th home win of the season vs. Ohio State (Feb. 2), their sixth straight season with at least 10 home wins at State Farm Center under Brad Underwood. Since 2019-20, the Illini boast the third-best home record in the Big Ten at 79-16 (.832). Nationally, that ranks 13th among teams that have played each of the last six seasons in a power conference. 

On Monday, Kasparas Jakucionis was named to Oscar Robertson Trophy Midseason Watch List. It is the latest midseason honor for Jakucionis, who has also been a unanimous selection to the five-player Freshman All-America Team by The Athletic, a Midseason All-America third team selection by The Sporting News, and a John R. Wooden Award Midseason Watch List selection. 

Illinois is No. 13 in the latest KenPom net rating at 24.97. The Fighting Illini are on pace for their fourth top-20 rating in the last five seasons under Brad Underwood. 

Four of Illinois’ last seven 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 85.3 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 +14.9 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 45.5 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 19 of 22 games this season. 

The Illini rank No. 12 in KenPom adjusted defensive efficiency (93.6), 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 KenPom’s effective field goal percentage defense (.440), ranking ninth in 2-point defense (.439) and 15th in 3-point defense (.294). Illinois, Tennessee, and Florida are the only three 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. 23 in the latest AP poll and 25th in the coaches poll. Illinois has been ranked for a total of nine weeks this season, including an active streak of seven-consecutive weeks, and has reached as high as 13th.

Illinois has registered 76 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 81 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 91.3% of the team’s scoring so far (1,696 of 1,857 total points), with UI freshmen accounting for 41.4% of those points (702).

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 (15.6 ppg) and third in rebounding (5.7 rpg). Sophomore C Tomislav Ivisic nearly averages a double-double at 12.9 points (second on team) and team-leading 8.6 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 6.9 rebounds per game with a team-leading 59 offensive boards (2.7 per game). 

At 15.6 points per game, point guard Kasparas Jakucionis is just shy of the Illinois freshman record for scoring average (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 15 games, Jakucionis is averaging 17.3 points (259), 5.6 rebounds (84), and 5.3 assists (80), knocking down an average of 2.1 threes per game (32) on 36.8% from 3-point range (32-87) along with 83.8% from the foul line (67-80). 

Tomislav Ivisic is the No. 6 rebounder in the Big Ten at 8.6 rpg. Ivisic has led the Illini rebounding effort, which ranks No. 1 nationally in total rebounds per game, in 11 of the 19 games in which he has played. 

Ivisic, classified as sophomore in his first season of collegiate competition, has recorded eight double-doubles through 19 games, ranking fourth in the Big Ten, tied for 28th in the NCAA overall, and tied for first among power conference underclassmen. 

Ben Humrichous has knocked down at least one 3-pointer in 20 of 22 games this season. He leads the team and ranks 15th in the Big Ten averaging 1.95 triples per contest. 

After opening the year averaging 7.1 points and 5.0 rebounds in eight games, Tre White found a rhythm on the court for the Illini. Beginning with a 23-point, 8 rebound effort vs. #20 Wisconsin on Dec. 10, White averaged 12.1 points (157) and 6.2 rebounds (80) the team’s next 13 games, scoring in double figures seven times. 

Likewise Kylan Boswell is averaging 13.9 points (195), 6.1 rebounds (85), and 3.6 assists (51) in his last 14 games, reaching double-figures scoring 12 times including 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 for the Illini in his sophomore season. Over his last 12 games, Gibbs-Lawhorn is averaging 10.3 points (124) while shooting 53.6% (45-84) from the field.

Gibbs-Lawhorn made the first start of his collegiate career vs. Ohio State (Feb. 2), and was key to the Illini’s 87-79 come-from-behind victory. He posted 10 points highlighted by a momentum-shifting steal and run-out dunk that capped a 12-2 run to pull the Illini to within one possession after OSU’s lead had reached 11 points. 

Morez Johnson Jr. is also excelling for the Illini. Over his last 12 games Johnson is averaging 8.5 points (102) and 7.6 rebounds (76), highlighted by a 20-point, 11-rebound double-double in the win over Penn State (Jan. 8), a 15-point, nine-rebound effort in his second-career start vs. Northwestern on Jan. 26, and a 14-point, 15-rebound double-double in the team’s come-from-behind win over Ohio State on Feb. 2. 

Johnson, at 6.9 rebounds per game, is on track to tie Efrem Winters (1982-83) for the second-best freshman mark in Illini history, behind only Kofi Cockburn’s 2019-20 season average (8.8 rpg). 

Johnson posted his second 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. On Feb. 2, he posted his third double-double with 14 points and a team-season-high 15 rebounds vs. Ohio State.  

Through 22 games, Johnson has recorded 27 total blocks, tied for sixth in the Illini freshman record book with James Augustine (2002-03). 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; 45.5), defensive rebounds per game (1st; 31.8), rebound margin (1st; 11.7), 3-point attempts per game (6th; 31.0), free-throw attempts per game (18th; 23.7), field goal percentage defense (19th; .395), and offensive rebounds per game (21st; 13.7). 

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.