University of Minnesota Athletics
Wednesday, February 28
Urbana-Champaign, IL
8:00 PM
University of Minnesota
at
Illinois
Players Mentioned
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Forward
/ Men's Basketball
Guard
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Kelly Hagenson
Gophers On the Road For Second Straight Game
2/27/2024 7:39:00 AM | Men's Basketball
SERIES INFORMATION*
187th Meeting (66-120 all time)
Minnesota Road Record at Illinois: 20-69
Gophers All-Time vs. Big Ten: 795-908
* - excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
• The Minnesota men's basketball team is on the road for the second-straight game when it travels to No. 13 Illinois on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. The game will be on the Big Ten Network and broadcast on KFAN 100.3 FM. Wednesday's action marks the lone meeting between the two teams this season. Illinois is one of six opponents Minnesota faces once this season and one of three just on the road (Purdue and Michigan marks the other two). Minnesota is 66-120 all-time against the Illini and just 20-69 on their home court. It also marks Minnesota's third-ranked opponent this season.Â
• Minnesota faced Illinois twice last season and dropped both contests. The Illini won the first game at Williams Arena, 78-60, on Jan. 16, 2023. The second game was postponed due to COVID-19 health and safety on Feb. 7, only to be rescheduled for Feb. 20. The Illini won at State Farm, 78-69.Â
• Minnesota is coming off a 73-55 loss at Nebraska Sunday after two straight wins against Rutgers and Ohio State. Minnesota was held to its lowest point total of the season and its lowest field goal percentage of the season (31.0) as Nebraska won its 17th home game of the year and ninth in Big Ten play. Cam Christie led the Gophers with 14 points, Dawson Garcia had 10 and Elijah Hawkins had nine. Parker Fox had eight points and nine rebounds.Â
• Elijah Hawkins reached his 1,000 career point Sunday at Nebraska. Scoring a career-high 24 points in the Ohio State win and nine at Nebraska, Hawkins now sits at 1,001 career points. As a Gopher, Hawkins has 237 points and 764 points in his two-year tenure at Howard. With 191 assists this season, Hawkins is also closing in on Minnesota's single-season assist record. He's on pace to break Marcus Carr's 207 assists he established in 2019-20.Â
• Parker Fox proves to be Minnesota's spark off the bench this season. Coming back from back-to-back years of knee injuries, Fox produced a near double-double in the Nebraska game when he had eight points off the bench and snagged a season-high nine rebounds. In the past six games, Fox has averaged 16 minutes a game, 4.7 rebounds and 6.7 points.
ABOUT ILLINOIS
• No. 13 Illinois is 20-7 overall and 11-5 in Big Ten play. The Illini have won three of their last four, including home wins vs. Michigan (Feb. 13) and Iowa (Feb. 24) and a road win at Maryland (Feb. 17). Their one blemish came against Penn State when the Illini lost in the final seconds, 90-89 at PSU's Rec Hall.Â
• Terrence Shannon Jr. leads the team in scoring, averaging 21.6 points. That ranks second in the Big Ten behind Purdue's Zach Edey. His 47.3 field goal percentage ranks sixth in the league. Southern Illinois transfer Marcus Domask follows at 15.3 ppg, while Coleman Hawkins averages 13.0. Rounding out the double-digit scoring average is Quincy Guerrier at 10.3 ppg. The tandem of Guerrier and Hawkins also averages a team-best 6.9 and 6.0 rebounds per game, respectively.Â
•  As a team, Illinois ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring. The Illini average 83.8 points and allow 72 per game. Illinois is shooting 46.6 percent as a team while holding its opponents to 42.1. They also shoot 34.5 percent from three and 74 percent from the charity stripe. The Illini are statistically the best rebounding team in the league. Their combined rebounds are 42.3, averaging 13.1 offensive rebounds and 29.2 defensive rebounds per game.Â
ON THE DOCKET
•  Minnesota returns to Williams Arena on Saturday hosting Penn State. The game is at 2:15 p.m. and televised on Big Ten Network.Â
•  Mike Grimm and Al Nolen will provide the radio broadcast on KFAN 100.3 FM.
 •  Saturday is also senior day where the Gophers will recognize their graduating seniors post game.Â
187th Meeting (66-120 all time)
Minnesota Road Record at Illinois: 20-69
Gophers All-Time vs. Big Ten: 795-908
* - excludes vacated games
STARTING FIVE
• The Minnesota men's basketball team is on the road for the second-straight game when it travels to No. 13 Illinois on Wednesday night at 8 p.m. The game will be on the Big Ten Network and broadcast on KFAN 100.3 FM. Wednesday's action marks the lone meeting between the two teams this season. Illinois is one of six opponents Minnesota faces once this season and one of three just on the road (Purdue and Michigan marks the other two). Minnesota is 66-120 all-time against the Illini and just 20-69 on their home court. It also marks Minnesota's third-ranked opponent this season.Â
• Minnesota faced Illinois twice last season and dropped both contests. The Illini won the first game at Williams Arena, 78-60, on Jan. 16, 2023. The second game was postponed due to COVID-19 health and safety on Feb. 7, only to be rescheduled for Feb. 20. The Illini won at State Farm, 78-69.Â
• Minnesota is coming off a 73-55 loss at Nebraska Sunday after two straight wins against Rutgers and Ohio State. Minnesota was held to its lowest point total of the season and its lowest field goal percentage of the season (31.0) as Nebraska won its 17th home game of the year and ninth in Big Ten play. Cam Christie led the Gophers with 14 points, Dawson Garcia had 10 and Elijah Hawkins had nine. Parker Fox had eight points and nine rebounds.Â
• Elijah Hawkins reached his 1,000 career point Sunday at Nebraska. Scoring a career-high 24 points in the Ohio State win and nine at Nebraska, Hawkins now sits at 1,001 career points. As a Gopher, Hawkins has 237 points and 764 points in his two-year tenure at Howard. With 191 assists this season, Hawkins is also closing in on Minnesota's single-season assist record. He's on pace to break Marcus Carr's 207 assists he established in 2019-20.Â
• Parker Fox proves to be Minnesota's spark off the bench this season. Coming back from back-to-back years of knee injuries, Fox produced a near double-double in the Nebraska game when he had eight points off the bench and snagged a season-high nine rebounds. In the past six games, Fox has averaged 16 minutes a game, 4.7 rebounds and 6.7 points.
ABOUT ILLINOIS
• No. 13 Illinois is 20-7 overall and 11-5 in Big Ten play. The Illini have won three of their last four, including home wins vs. Michigan (Feb. 13) and Iowa (Feb. 24) and a road win at Maryland (Feb. 17). Their one blemish came against Penn State when the Illini lost in the final seconds, 90-89 at PSU's Rec Hall.Â
• Terrence Shannon Jr. leads the team in scoring, averaging 21.6 points. That ranks second in the Big Ten behind Purdue's Zach Edey. His 47.3 field goal percentage ranks sixth in the league. Southern Illinois transfer Marcus Domask follows at 15.3 ppg, while Coleman Hawkins averages 13.0. Rounding out the double-digit scoring average is Quincy Guerrier at 10.3 ppg. The tandem of Guerrier and Hawkins also averages a team-best 6.9 and 6.0 rebounds per game, respectively.Â
•  As a team, Illinois ranks second in the Big Ten in scoring. The Illini average 83.8 points and allow 72 per game. Illinois is shooting 46.6 percent as a team while holding its opponents to 42.1. They also shoot 34.5 percent from three and 74 percent from the charity stripe. The Illini are statistically the best rebounding team in the league. Their combined rebounds are 42.3, averaging 13.1 offensive rebounds and 29.2 defensive rebounds per game.Â
ON THE DOCKET
•  Minnesota returns to Williams Arena on Saturday hosting Penn State. The game is at 2:15 p.m. and televised on Big Ten Network.Â
•  Mike Grimm and Al Nolen will provide the radio broadcast on KFAN 100.3 FM.
 •  Saturday is also senior day where the Gophers will recognize their graduating seniors post game.Â
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