Meet The Opponent: Which Illinois Team Will Indiana See?

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. – When it comes to consistency, Indiana men’s basketball fans have likely learned by now that the Hoosiers are in a constant quest to find it.

After winning five straight and settling down doubts about the program’s direction, Indiana turned in an 85-60 loss at Iowa that revived concerns about the Hoosiers in terms of offensive prowess, defensive stopping power and the wide variance in effort from game-to-game.

Indiana has to prove to its fans that the Iowa game was the exception, not the rule.

By comparison, Illinois has lesser concerns. Though the Fighting Illini (12-4, 4-2) have a near identical record as Indiana (13-4, 4-2), the records were not created equally.

Three of Illinois’ losses were to Alabama, Tennessee and at Northwestern in overtime. All are relatively forgivable, and that’s why Illinois finds itself high in the metrics rankings as well as having a spot in the Associated Press Top 25.

It’s the fourth loss that stands out as odd – Saturday’s 82-72 loss to Southern California in Champaign.

Prior to that defeat, Illinois had won three of its previous four games by at least 29 points, including an eye-popping 32-point win at Oregon on Jan. 2.

Illinois played without guard Kasparas Jakucionis – their leader in scoring and assists – but his absence didn’t hurt the Illini in a 29-point victory over Penn State Wednesday. Jakucionis is questionable for Tuesday’s game.

Both teams will be looking to rebound after disappointing losses. It will be interesting to see which team has the toughness to get back on track.

Here's a breakdown of the Illinois Fighting Illini.

Key players

• G Kasparas Jakucionis: 16.4 ppg, 5.6 rpg, 5.4 apg – missed last two games.

• C Tomislav Jonic: 12.8 ppg, 8.6 rpg

• G Tre White: 11.3 ppg, 5.5 rpg

• G Kylan Boswell: 11.2 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 4.1 apg

• F Will Riley: 10.9 ppg, 3.7 rpg

• F Ben Humrichous: 9.4 ppg, 3.5 rpg

• G Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn: 7.2 ppg, 1.6 rpg

• F Morez Johnson: 5.8 ppg, 6.6 rpg.

• F Jake Davis: 2.7 ppg, 1.5 rpg

• F Carey Booth 1.4 ppg, 1.2 rpg.

2024-25 Schedule (12-4, 4-2)

• W, 112-67, Eastern Illinois, Nov. 4

• W, 90-58, SIU-Edwardsville, Nov. 8

• W, 66-54, Oakland, Nov. 13

• L, 100-87, Alabama, Nov. 20 – C.M. Newton Classic, Birmingham, Ala.

• W, 87-40, Maryland-Eastern Shore, Nov. 23

• W, 92-34, Little Rock, Nov. 25

• W, 90-77, Arkansas, Nov. 28 – Thanksgiving Hoops Showcase, Kansas City

• L, 70-66, OT, at Northwestern, Dec. 6

• W, 86-80, Wisconsin, Dec. 10

• L, 66-64, Tennessee, Dec. 14

• W, 80-77, Missouri, Dec. 22 – St. Louis

• W, 117-64, Chicago State, Dec. 29

• W, 109-77, at Oregon, Jan. 2

• W, 81-77, at Washington, Jan. 5

• W, 91-52, Penn State, Jan. 8

• L, 82-72, USC, Jan. 11

Series history

Indiana leads 96-92. Illinois won the lone meeting in the 2023-24 season with a 70-62 victory in Champaign, Ill. Indiana won the last meeting at Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall 71-68 in 2023, but the Fighting Illini won the previous two games at Indiana.

Head coach: Brad Underwood

Brad Underwood is in his eighth season at Illinois and has a record of 155-92 with the Illini. Illinois is well on its way to its sixth straight 20-win season.

Overall, Underwood is in his 12th season as a head coach. He has a 264-119 overall record. Underwood was 20-13 in a single season at Oklahoma State in 2016-17. He was 89-14 in three seasons at Stephen F. Austin.

Underwood had a 132-85 record at the junior college level during head coaching stints at Dodge City CC (1988-92) and Daytona Beach CC (2003-06).

Before becoming a Division I head coach, Underwood was an assistant at South Carolina (2012-13), Kansas State (2006-12), Western Illinois (1992-2003) and Hardin-Simmons (1986-87).

Strengths

Illinois Fighting Illini center Tomislav Ivisic (13) grabs a rebound during the second half against the USC Trojans at State Farm Center. | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Illinois is one of the highest-scoring teams in the nation at 86.9 points per game. The Illini are not the most accurate team from the field, but they can overwhelm teams with a volume of shots. Illinois ranks in the top 20 nationally in shots taken (64.7, 17th) and 3-point shots attempted (31.5, 7th).

A lot of that production comes from Jakucionis, who sat out the last two games with an arm injury. Illinois is 1-1 without him, but he is a 41.4% 3-point shooter, excellent rebounder (5.6 rpg) and good passer (5.4 apg).

Illinois also crashes the boards with force. The Illini lead the nation in defensive rebounding at 32 per game. They are also good for 13.1 offensive rebounds. Center Tomislav Ivisic (8.6 rpg), forward Morez Johnson Jr. (6.6 rpg), guard Tre White (5.5 rpg) and Jakucionis all clean the glass well.

Illinois is also strong at the line (76.3%) and is there often at 23.2 free throw attempts per game, 42nd nationally.

Weaknesses

The Illini don’t have any glaring weaknesses, but there’s chinks in their armor here and there.

For all of the shots they take, they need that volume because they don’t convert at an efficient rate. Illinois makes 45.4% of its shots, middle of the pack nationally, and is 33.1% from 3-point range, which is in the bottom half of Division I.

This weakness tends to show up in spurts. In its 82-72 loss to USC Saturday, Illinois was just 37.1% from the field. In its previous loss, a two-point defeat to No. 1 Tennessee on Dec. 14, the Illini converted 29.4% from the field. Between those two games, Illinois shot no worse than 43.9% in five straight wins. So when things go wrong, they tend to go wrong in bunches in the shooting department.

Illinois has turned the ball over more often in its last eight games. The Illini have had no fewer than 10 turnovers in those games after having no more than 10 giveaways in four of its previous eight games.

Season and game outlook

Indiana needs a bounce back win to erase the memory of its meltdown at Iowa, but Illinois is just as motivated to steer themselves in the right direction.

The loss to a struggling USC was baffling, even without Jakucionis. Illinois will want to squelch any sign of trouble that could sink their ambition to get a good seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Whoever wins stays near the top of the Big Ten race at the moment as Michigan, Michigan State and Purdue seem to be separating from the pack.