Head Coach John Groce
Career Record: 159-112/.587 (8th year)
At Illinois: 74-56/.569 (4th year)
Big Ten: 28-39/.418
Series Notes vs. Wisconsin
Series Record: Illinois leads 110-83
Series Streak: Wisconsin W-9
Record at Madison: Wisconsin leads 55-39
Series Streak at Madison: Wisconsin W-5
Groce vs. Wisconsin: 0-6
This Year's Meeting: Wisconsin 63, Illinois 55 (Jan. 31, 2016 in Champaign, IL)
Opening Tips
• The Illini are looking to win consecutive Big Ten games since closing out last year's home schedule with back-to-back victories over Northwestern (86-60, Feb. 25) and Nebraska (69-57, March 4).
• While Illinois has not won in Madison since 2010, the Illini have recorded four victories at Kohl Center, tied with Purdue and topped only by Michigan State and Ohio State (five wins apiece) for the most wins by a visitor since the opening of Wisconsin's arena. The Illini won three times at Kohl Center during former UW Coach Bo Ryan's tenure (2002, 2005, 2006), tied with Purdue for the most victories by an opponent from 2002-2015.
Coaches Powering Forward for Autism
Feb. 19-21 is the third annual Coaches Powering Forward for Autism Weekend in college basketball. John Groce and the Illini staff will join hundreds of coaches from across the country by wearing blue Autism Speaks puzzle piece pins on their suits. Towson head coach Pat Skerry and Georgia Tech assistant coach Tom Herrion both have sons on the autism spectrum, and in 2014 they started a nationwide campaign among the coaching fraternity to raise awareness about the disorder. Illinois strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher spent the last three years on Skerry's staff at Towson and also will wear a blue bow tie recognizing Skerry's son, Owen.
Stepping Up
While Malcolm Hill and Kendrick Nunn have carried the Illini scoring load most of the season, other options have emerged recently. Jalen Coleman-Lands, Maverick Morgan and D.J. Williams have combined for 48.2 percent of Illinois' scoring over the last four games by averaging 37.8 points on 55 percent shooting, a strong improvement over their production prior to this stretch.
Select Company
Malcolm Hill leads the Illini in scoring (18.5 ppg), rebounding (6.7 rpg) and assists (3.5 apg). He is joined by Michigan's Derek Walton as the only Big Ten players to lead their teams in all three categories this season. Hill is vying to become just the second Fighting Illini player ever to rank first in scoring, rebounding and assists in the same season. The first Illini to accomplish the feat (dating back to the start of assists record keeping in 1974) was Rick Schmidt in 1975. During Schmidt's junior season, he led the Illini with averages of 20.2 points, 5.3 rebounds and 2.8 assists.
Big Two
Juniors Malcolm Hill and Kendrick Nunn are leading the charge for the Illini offensive attack, ranking as the second-highest scoring duo in the Big Ten, and seventh-highest among the six major conferences this season. Here is a current ranking of the top scoring duos from each of the power six leagues:
- 38.9 points – Buddy Hield (25.2 ppg) & Isaiah Cousins (13.7 ppg), Oklahoma
- 38.0 points – Grayson Allen (20.7 ppg) & Brandon Ingram (17.3 ppg), Duke
- 37.6 points – Ben Bentil (20.3 ppg) & Kris Dunn (17.3 ppg), Providence
- 35.6 points – Jamal Murray (19.2 ppg) & Tyler Ullis (16.4 ppg), Kentucky
- 35.2 points – Andrew Andrews (20.4 ppg) & Dejounte Murray (14.8 ppg), Washington
- 35.1 points – Jarrod Uthoff (18.8 ppg) & Peter Jok (16.3 ppg), Iowa
- 35.0 points – Malcolm Hill (18.5 ppg) & Kendrick Nunn (16.5 ppg), Illinois
- 34.8 points – Stefan Moody (22.8 ppg) & Sebastian Saiz (12.0 ppg), Mississippi
Hill Named Finalist for Jerry West Award
Illini junior Malcolm Hill is one of 10 finalists for the Jerry West Shooting Guard of the Year Award, presented by the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Joining Hill on the list are Buddy Hield (Oklahoma), Caris LeVert (Michigan), Grayson Allen (Duke), Jalen Jones (Texas A&M), Malcolm Brogdon (Virginia), Sheldon McClellan (Miami), Josh Hart (Villanova), AJ English (Iona) and Julian Jacobs (USC). The list will be narrowed to five in March, with the recipient chosen by West and the Hall of Fame's selection committee. The winner of the Jerry West Award will be presented on April 8 at the ESPN College Basketball Awards Show.
Illini Trends
• Illinois has started 13 different lineups this season.
• Illinois' turnover rate of 14.4 percent ranks sixth nationally, and the Illini rank 15th in the NCAA in fewest turnovers per game (10.2 avg.).
• Illinois ranks 10th nationally in defensive free throw rate (26.2).
• Junior Malcolm Hill has scored in double figures in all but one game this season. His streak of 29 straight games in double digits was snapped last Saturday at Northwestern (7 points). Hill began a new streak on Tuesday, scoring a game-high 22 points in the win over Rutgers.
• Hill currently ranks third in the Big Ten in scoring with an average of 18.5 points. His average is the highest by an Illini since Brian Cook led the Big Ten in scoring in 2003 (20.0 ppg).
• Hill scored his 1,000th career point at Minnesota (Jan. 23), becoming the 47th player in Fighting Illini history to reach the 1,000-point milestone. He now ranks 41st on the all-time UI list with 1,111 points (tied with Deron Williams).
• Hill has 17 career games of 20+ points, with 13 this season, including six of the last 10 games (30 vs. Purdue, 20 at Indiana, 28 at Minnesota, 22 vs. Wisconsin, 32 at Rutgers).
• Over the last 10 games, Hill is averaging 20.4 points (204).
• Hill leads the Big Ten and ranks 15th in the NCAA in made free throws (156). He is second in the conference (behind Wisconsin's Nigel Hayes) and 24th nationally in free throw attempts (193).
• Hill has 10 games this season with at least nine free throw attempts. Over the last 10 games, he has gotten to the line 101 times – averaging 10.1 attempts per game – and is scoring 7.9 points at the line (79 made).
• Hill has grabbed at least eight rebounds in six of the last seven games – reaching double figures four times – and is averaging 9.4 rpg over this stretch (66).
• Hill leads the Illini in assists on the season with an average of 3.5 apg (12th in Big Ten), after entering the year with a career average of 1.0 assists.
• Hill is averaging 5.0 assists over the last four games (20), led by a career-high eight assists last Saturday vs. Northwestern.
• Junior Kendrick Nunn has scored in double figures in 19 of the 20 games he has played in, averaging 16.5 points (seventh in Big Ten).
• Nunn has five games of 20+ points this season, including three times in Big Ten play (23 vs. Michigan, 22 vs. Purdue, 24 vs. Ohio State).
• Nunn has drained 58 three-pointers in his 20 games, surpassing his total of 54 treys in 33 games last year. His current average of 2.9 made threes per game ranks third in the Big Ten.
• Nunn's average of 2.90 three-pointers is challenging for the Illini season school record. The current mark is 3.00 set by Cory Bradford in 2000 (96 made in 32 games).
• Freshman Jalen Coleman-Lands leads all Big Ten freshmen with 65 made three-pointers this season. He is on pace to break the Illinois record by a true freshman of 69 treys, set by D.J. Richardson in 2010. The record by an Illini redshirt freshman is 85 by Cory Bradford in 1999.
• Coleman-Lands is fourth on the team in scoring, averaging 9.8 points. The last Illini to average double figures as a freshman was D.J. Richardson in 2010 (10.5 ppg).
• Coleman-Lands has scored in double figures in three of the last four games, averaging 16.0 points over this stretch (64).
• Coleman-Lands has knocked down 18 treys over the last four games on 42.9 percent shooting from behind the arc (18-42).
• Junior Maverick Morgan ranks third in the Big Ten in field goal percentage, shooting 58.7 percent on the season.
• Morgan has scored in double figures in each of the last four games, averaging 14.8 points (59) and 5.8 rebounds (23) while shooting 63.6 percent (28-44). During this stretch he set his career high in scoring with 20 points at Rutgers (Feb. 3) and twice tied his season high in rebounding with seven boards vs. Iowa (Feb. 7) and at Northwestern (Feb. 13).
• Freshman D.J. Williams has shown rapid improvement over the last four games, seeing his playing time increase to 18.3 minutes per game (73) and averaging 7.0 points (28) on 57.9 percent shooting (11-19).
Battling Through Adversity
Seven different Illini players have combined to miss a total of 77 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 game to the next, Coach John Groce has used 13 different starting lineups.
On six occasions the Illini have had as few as eight scholarship players available, including four times in Big Ten play (Michigan, at Ohio State, at Michigan State, at Rutgers).
The Illini are currently without three projected starters with Abrams, Black and Thorne all sidelined.
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 10.2 turnovers. Illinois ranks third in the Big Ten and 15th nationally in fewest turnovers. And Illinois ranks second in the conference with a +3.0 turnover margin (18th in NCAA).
Getting it Done at the Line Again
Illinois leads the Big Ten in free show shooting during league play at 77 percent, connecting on 194-of-252. 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.
3-Point Improvement
The Illini have increased their production from behind the arc in recent weeks. Illinois has made an average of 8.8 threes per game over the last 20 games (176), 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 13 times during this stretch, including 11 of the last 16 contests.
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 nearly 51 percent of the team's minutes played, the second-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). The Illini rank fifth in the league, meanwhile, in minutes played by freshmen at 32.2 percent.
Last Time Out: Illini 82, Rutgers 66 (Feb. 16)
The Illini went on an early 13-0 run and never looked back, recording its largest victory of the season with an 82-66 win over Rutgers at State Farm Center.
After the Scarlet Knights pulled to within two midway through the first half, Illinois answered with another strong run, this one a 15-2 spurt, to open up a 33-18 lead with 4:30 left. The Illini extended it to a 55-30 advantage during the second half – its largest lead of the season – before settling on the final margin of 16 points.
Illinois' defense forced 16 Rutgers turnovers and converted those into 21 points. And the Illini shot 41 percent from 3-point range, hitting 9-of-22 from behind the arc.
Malcolm Hill recorded his sixth double-double of the season with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-13 shooting and 10 rebounds. Maverick Morgan continued his strong play with 17 points on 7-of-11 from the field and a career-high four blocked shots. Kendrick Nunn added 16 points and three steals and Khalid Lewis again excelled against Rutgers, finishing with eight points and a season-high tying eight assists.
