Career Record: 156-108/.591 (8th year)
At Illinois: 71-52/.577 (4th year)
Big Ten: 25-35/.417
Series Notes vs. Minnesota
Series Record: Illinois leads 119-65
Series Streak: Minnesota W-1
Record at Minneapolis: Minnesota leads 46-44
Series Streak at Minneapolis: Minnesota W-1
Last Year's Meeting: ? Minnesota 79, Illinois 71 // Jan. 24, 2015 at Minneapolis
Groce vs. Minnesota: 3-2
Opening Tip
• Illinois heads to Minneapolis looking to snap an eight-game road skid on Saturday night against the Gophers. The Illini's last victory on an opponent's home court was a 59-54 win at Michigan State last season (Feb. 7, 2015).
• Illinois has won 11 of its last 14 games at Williams Arena dating back to 2000, including victories in two of Coach John Groce's first three visits to Minneapolis. The Fighting Illini have recorded 44 wins all-time at Minnesota, the UI's second-most road victories against a Big Ten opponent (61 at Northwestern).
• In two career games vs. Minnesota, junior Kendrick Nunn has averaged 18.5 points and made 9-of-13 from 3-point range (69.2 percent).
• Junior Malcolm Hill is closing in on becoming the 47th player in Illini history to reach the 1,000-point mark. Hill is currently 26 points shy of the milestone (974).
• Malcolm Hill leads the Fighting Illini in total points, rebounds, assists, steals and blocked shots on the season. He is one of just three players nationally to lead his team in all of those categories, joined by LSU's Ben Simmons and Florida A&M's Malcolm Bernard.
Newcomers Playing Prominent Role
Illinois has seven newcomers who have all factored into the rotation this season in graduate transfers Khalid Lewis and Mike Thorne Jr., junior transfer Alex Austin, redshirt freshman Michael Finke and true freshmen Jalen Coleman-Lands, Aaron Jordan and D.J. Williams. Together they have accounted for 54 percent of the team's minutes played, the highest number in the conference. Illinois is one of only two Big Ten teams with more than half of its minutes coming from newcomers (Nebraska), and one of five teams with more than one-third of its minutes coming from new additions:
Percentage of Minutes Played by Newcomers
1. ILLINOIS 54.0% (2051/3800)
2. Nebraska 51.2% (2059/4025)
3. Rutgers 48.6% (1942/4000)
4. Ohio State 44.6% (1796/4025)
5. Maryland 44.0% (1684/3825)
The Illini rank fourth in the league, meanwhile, in minutes played by freshmen at 33.4 percent:
Percentage of Minutes Played by Freshmen
1. Nebraska 36.8% (1483/4025)
2. Ohio State 36.1% (1454/4025)
3. Rutgers 34.4% (1374/4000)
4. ILLINOIS 33.4% (1269/3800)
5. Minnesota 33.2% (1270/3825)
Big Two
Juniors Kendrick Nunn and Malcolm Hill are leading the charge for the Illini offensive attack, ranking as the highest-scoring duo in the Big Ten, and sixth-highest among the six major conferences so far this season. Here is a ranking of the top scoring duos from each of the power six leagues:
1. 40.7 ppg Buddy Hield (26.1 ppg) & Jordan Woodard (14.6 ppg) Oklahoma
T2. 37.1 ppg Stefan Moody (24.3 ppg) & Sebastian Saiz (12.8 ppg) Mississippi
T2. 37.1 ppg Andrew Andrews (22.0 ppg) & Dejounte Murray (15.1 ppg) Washington
4. 36.7 ppg Grayson Allen (20.1 ppg) & Brandon Ingram (16.6 ppg) Duke
5. 36.4 ppg Ben Bentil (19.2 ppg) & Kris Dunn (17.2 ppg) Providence
6. 36.0 ppg Malcolm Hill (18.2 ppg) & Kendrick Nunn (17.8 ppg) Illinois
Nunn and Hill, meanwhile, are one of only two duos among the six major conferences where both players are averaging at least 17 ppg:
1. 36.4 ppg Ben Bentil (19.2 ppg) & Kris Dunn (17.2 ppg) Providence
2. 36.0 ppg Malcolm Hill (18.2 ppg) & Kendrick Nunn (17.8 ppg) Illinois
Battling Through Adversity
Six different Illini players have combined to miss a total of 55 games due to injuries and other circumstances so far this season. The only contest where Illinois has had its full roster available (not counting Tracy Abrams) for the entirety of the game was the 72-58 victory over UAB on Nov. 27.
With the list of available players changing from one day to the next, Coach John Groce has used 12 different starting lineups.
On five occasions the Illini have had as few as eight scholarship players available, including each of the first three games to open Big Ten play.
Thorne Returns
After missing the previous 11 games following Nov. 30 surgery for a torn meniscus in his left knee, fifth-year center Mike Thorne Jr. returned to action on Tuesday night at Indiana. He performed well in limited action, scoring nine points and grabbing a game-high nine boards in 16 minutes. It marked the sixth time in his eight appearances that he has led the Illini's leading rebounder.
Thorne has made a big impact on the Illini this season as a scoring threat in the post and with his rebounding ability. He recorded a double-double with 25 points and 14 rebounds in his UI debut vs. North Florida, then had 21 points and eight boards vs. North Dakota State.
After foul trouble limited his production at Providence, Thorne bounced back with another double-double vs. Chattanooga, collecting 18 points and game-high 11 rebounds, followed by 12 points and game-high nine boards vs. Chicago State.
Thorne finished with eight points and a game-high eight boards vs. UAB and put up 10 points and seven boards in just 13 first-half minutes against then 4th-ranked Iowa State before suffering the knee injury.
3-Point Improvement
The Illini have increased their production from behind the arc in recent weeks. Illinois has made an average of 9.1 threes per game over the last 13 games (118), a vast improvement over the average of 6.5 made treys through the first six games (39). The Illini have hit at least nine treys nine times during this stretch, including seven of the last nine contests.
Getting it Done at the Line Again
Illinois leads the Big Ten in free show shooting during league play at 78.8 percent, connecting on 89-of-113. Illinois led the conference in free throw shooting last year as well, making 81 percent in Big Ten games.
The Illini led the entire NCAA in free throw accuracy last season (all games), setting a school record at 79.4 percent to break the previous UI record by five percentage points.
Taking Care of the Rock
Illinois has been one of the best teams in the country under Coach John Groce in taking care of the basketball. Last year's team set a school record for fewest turnovers, averaging just 9.9 per game. That broke the previous school mark of 10.4 per game set by Groce's 2014 squad.
This year the Illini are on pace to challenge the school record again this year, currently averaging 9.9 turnovers. Illinois ranks third in the Big Ten and ninth nationally in fewest turnovers. And Illinois ranks second in the conference with a +3.3 turnover margin (21st in NCAA).
Capitalizing Off Turnovers
Over the last 10 games, Illinois has averaged just 8.9 turnovers (89) while the opponent has averaged 14.0 turnovers (140). And the Illini have made the most from those extra opportunities, outscoring the opposition in points off turnovers in eight of the 10 games, and by a combined total of 145-to-100, an advantage of 4.5 points per game.
Illini Trends
• Illinois has started 12 different lineups through 19 games.
• Illinois' turnover rate of 14.1 percent ranks fifth nationally.
• Illinois ranks 21st nationally in defensive free throw rate (26.7).
• Junior Malcolm Hill has scored in double figures in every game this season and currently ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring with an average of 18.2 points.
• Hill has 13 career games of 20+ points, with nine this season, including two of the last three games (30 vs. Purdue, 20 at Indiana).
• Hill ranks 32nd in the NCAA in made free throws (99) and 44th nationally in free throw attempts (123), standing second behind Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes among Big Ten players in each category.
• Hill has six games this season with at least nine free throw attempts. Over the last three games, he has gotten to the line 31 times.
• Hill leads the Illini in assists on the season with an average of 3.5 apg (14th in Big Ten), after entering the year with a career average of 1.0 assists.
• Hill is averaging 22.3 points (67) on 53.8 percent shooting (21-39) over the last three games, compared to 11.7 points (35) on 32.4 percent shooting (11-34) through the first three games of Big Ten play.
• Junior Kendrick Nunn has scored in double figures in all 13 games he has played in, currently averaging 17.8 points.
• Nunn's scoring average would rank fourth in the Big Ten, but he is not listed among the conference statistical leaders because he has yet to play in 75 percent of Illinois' games. Nunn has played in 68 percent of games on the season.
• Nunn has four games of 20+ points this season, including twice in Big Ten play with 23 vs. Michigan and 22 vs. Purdue.
• Nunn, who led the team in 3-pointers last year, has combined for 38 treys over his 13 games. His average of 2.9 made threes per game would rank third in the Big Ten.
• Nunn has shot better than 46 percent from the field in eight of his 13 games.
• Nunn is averaging 6.3 boards (50) over his last eight games.
Complete Illinois-Minnesota Game Notes (PDF)
