University of Minnesota Athletics
Saturday, February 20
2:30 PM
University of Minnesota
vs
Illinois
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Game 23: Illinois at Minnesota
2/18/2021 7:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Gophers host No. 5 Illini at 2:30 p.m. on Saturday on FOX and KFAN
SERIES INFORMATION
183rd Meeting (66-116 all-time record)
At Home: 45-44 // Current Streak: L-2
Richard Pitino vs. Illinois: 4-6
Minnesota vs. Big Ten: 780-862*
Pitino vs. Big Ten regular season games: 54-91
Pitino vs. Big Ten (includes postseason games): 60-98Â
* - excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
1. After a five-day, two-game road trip, ths Gophers return home to host No. 5 Illinois. Minnesota is 13-1 at Williams Arena this season  (17th time in school history with 13 home wins) and averages 80.6 points, while allowing only 68.3. In scoring 1,129 points at Williams Arena, Minnesota has made 371 field goals, 104 3-pointers and 283 free throws (opponents have attempted only 291 free throws at Williams Arena). Minnesota also has lopsided home numbers in assists (230-185), blocks (70-35) and steals (88-70).Â
2. The Gophers are 66-116 all-time against Illinois, but are 45-44 against the Illini at home. Minnesota has won the last two games between the schools at Williams Arena (86-75 in 2019 and 77-67 in 2018) and Minnesota's last home loss to Illinois was 76-71 in 2016.Â
3. Minnesota is 5-4 against ranked opponents this year. The Gophers, who played only eight ranked opponents last season, have beaten No. 4 Iowa, No. 7 Michigan, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 24 Purdue and No. 25 Ohio State this year. The five ranked wins also ties a school regular-season record, as Minnesota also beat five ranked opponents in 2012-13. That year, Minnesota beat No. 1 Indiana, No. 12 at Illinois, No. 18 Michigan State, No. 19 vs. Memphis and No. 20 Wisconsin (OT). The Gophers picked up a sixth ranked win in the NCAA tournament when it beat No. 24 UCLA. The previous high under Coach Pitino was four ranked wins in the regular season and came in 2018-19. That year, Minnesota played 11 raked opponents (Pitino-era high) and beat No. 11 Purdue, No. 19 Iowa, No. 22 at Wisconsin and No. 24 Nebraska. The Gophers earned a fifth ranked win in the Big Ten tournament by beating No. 13 Purdue. Minnesota has never beaten three top-10 teams in a regular season (did beat No. 4 Illinois and No. 10 Purdue in the 1989-90 regular season and beat No. 6 Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament).
4. Marcus Carr played in his 53nd game as a Gopher at Indiana. Carr averages 17.1 points per game and 6.03 assists per game as a Gopher. At this point in his career, his 17.1 points per game would rank tenth in school history (minimum 40 games played) and would be the best career scoring average since Mychal Thompson averaged 20.8 points from 1975-78. His average of 6.03 assists per game would rank first in school history (minimum 40 games played) ahead of Ray Williams who averaged 5.7 from 1976-77. Â
5. Marcus Carr banked in a three  with 7.0 seconds left to beat Purdue 71-68 on Feb. 11. It was the last field goal attempt of game by Minnesota and was Carr's fourth game winner or game-tying basket of his career. This season he is 12-28 from the field in end of half situations (under a minute to play) and 6-17 from three. He has 14 field goals in the final 20 seconds of halves and eight field goals in the final ten seconds of his career.
You can read Minnesota's complete games notes here.Â
183rd Meeting (66-116 all-time record)
At Home: 45-44 // Current Streak: L-2
Richard Pitino vs. Illinois: 4-6
Minnesota vs. Big Ten: 780-862*
Pitino vs. Big Ten regular season games: 54-91
Pitino vs. Big Ten (includes postseason games): 60-98Â
* - excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
1. After a five-day, two-game road trip, ths Gophers return home to host No. 5 Illinois. Minnesota is 13-1 at Williams Arena this season  (17th time in school history with 13 home wins) and averages 80.6 points, while allowing only 68.3. In scoring 1,129 points at Williams Arena, Minnesota has made 371 field goals, 104 3-pointers and 283 free throws (opponents have attempted only 291 free throws at Williams Arena). Minnesota also has lopsided home numbers in assists (230-185), blocks (70-35) and steals (88-70).Â
2. The Gophers are 66-116 all-time against Illinois, but are 45-44 against the Illini at home. Minnesota has won the last two games between the schools at Williams Arena (86-75 in 2019 and 77-67 in 2018) and Minnesota's last home loss to Illinois was 76-71 in 2016.Â
3. Minnesota is 5-4 against ranked opponents this year. The Gophers, who played only eight ranked opponents last season, have beaten No. 4 Iowa, No. 7 Michigan, No. 17 Michigan State, No. 24 Purdue and No. 25 Ohio State this year. The five ranked wins also ties a school regular-season record, as Minnesota also beat five ranked opponents in 2012-13. That year, Minnesota beat No. 1 Indiana, No. 12 at Illinois, No. 18 Michigan State, No. 19 vs. Memphis and No. 20 Wisconsin (OT). The Gophers picked up a sixth ranked win in the NCAA tournament when it beat No. 24 UCLA. The previous high under Coach Pitino was four ranked wins in the regular season and came in 2018-19. That year, Minnesota played 11 raked opponents (Pitino-era high) and beat No. 11 Purdue, No. 19 Iowa, No. 22 at Wisconsin and No. 24 Nebraska. The Gophers earned a fifth ranked win in the Big Ten tournament by beating No. 13 Purdue. Minnesota has never beaten three top-10 teams in a regular season (did beat No. 4 Illinois and No. 10 Purdue in the 1989-90 regular season and beat No. 6 Syracuse in the NCAA Tournament).
4. Marcus Carr played in his 53nd game as a Gopher at Indiana. Carr averages 17.1 points per game and 6.03 assists per game as a Gopher. At this point in his career, his 17.1 points per game would rank tenth in school history (minimum 40 games played) and would be the best career scoring average since Mychal Thompson averaged 20.8 points from 1975-78. His average of 6.03 assists per game would rank first in school history (minimum 40 games played) ahead of Ray Williams who averaged 5.7 from 1976-77. Â
5. Marcus Carr banked in a three  with 7.0 seconds left to beat Purdue 71-68 on Feb. 11. It was the last field goal attempt of game by Minnesota and was Carr's fourth game winner or game-tying basket of his career. This season he is 12-28 from the field in end of half situations (under a minute to play) and 6-17 from three. He has 14 field goals in the final 20 seconds of halves and eight field goals in the final ten seconds of his career.
You can read Minnesota's complete games notes here.Â
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