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Illinois guard Tre White (22) and Penn State's guard D'Marco Dunn (2) in a NCAA basketball game at the State Farm Center in Champaign on Wednesday, January 8, 2025.

Lineups

No. 19 Illinois (12-4, 4-2 Big Ten)

Starters

P Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown

G Kylan Boswell Jr. 6-2 11.2 Champaign

G Tre White Jr. 6-7 11.3 Dallas

F Will Riley Fr. 6-8 10.9 Kitchener, Ontario

F Ben Humrichous Gr. 6-9 9.4 Tipton, Ind.

C Tomislav Ivisic So. 7-1 12.8 Vodice, Croatia

FYI: Illinois coach Brad Underwood was noncommittal when it came to Kasparas Jakucionis’ status for Tuesday’s game at Indiana. The freshman guard has missed the last two games with what was called a left forearm injury. Jakucionis spoke with Lithuanian reporter Donatas Urbonas, of BasketNews.lt, on Saturday and said he had tendonitis in his left hand, but it wasn’t serious and he expected to play when the Illini returned to action this week.

Off the bench

P Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown

G Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn So. 6-1 7.2 Lafayette, Ind.

F Morez Johnson Jr. Fr. 6-9 5.8 Chicago

F Jake Davis So. 6-6 2.7 McCordsville, Ind.

Indiana (13-4, 4-2 Big Ten)

Starters

P Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown

G Myles Rice R-So. 6-3 12.4 Columbia, S.C.

G Trey Galloway Sr. 6-5 7.1 Culver, Ind.

F Luke Goode Sr. 6-7 7.1 Fort Wayne, Ind.

F Mackenzie Mgbako So. 6-9 12.8 Gladstone, N.J.

C Oumar Ballo R-Sr. 7-0 14.0 Koulikoro, Mali

➜ FYI: Malik Reneau has missed the past three games with a knee injury, and Indiana coach Mike Woodson said after the first game he missed (Jan. 5 at Penn State) the Hoosiers’ scoring leader wouldn’t return “any time soon.” The answer to Reneau’s lost production has been Ballo, who’s averaged 19.3 points and 11.3 rebounds with his frontcourt partner sidelined.

Off the bench

P Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown

F Bryson Tucker Fr. 6-7 6.3 Bowie, Md.

G Kanaan Carlyle So. 6-3 4.7 Atlanta

G Anthony Leal Sr. 6-5 2.2 Bloomington, Ind.

Details

➜ Site: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall (17,222), Bloomington, Ind..

➜ Radio: Brian Barnhart (play-by-play) and former Illini Doug Altenberger (analysis) will have the call on the Illini Sports Network on WDWS 1400-AM, WDWS 93.9-FM, WHMS 97.5-FM, WPXN 104.9-FM, WDAN-1490-AM, WDNL 102.1-FM, WSOY 1340-AM and WSOY 103.3-FM.

➜ Streaming: Noah Eagle (play-by-play) and Robbie Hummel (analysis) will have the call on Peacock.

➜ Series: Indiana leads 96-92.

➜ Last meeting: Illinois won 70-62 on Jan. 27, 2024, in Champaign.

➜ FYI: The Illini have won two of their last three games at the only Assembly Hall left in the Big Ten (albeit not the most recent one). That level of success on the road against the Hoosiers is in stark contrast to how Illinois fared in the series before that with seven straight losses between 2011 and 2019.

Beat writer Scott Richey’s storylines

Goode’s role at Indiana increasing

Indiana moved Luke Goode into its starting lineup for its Dec. 29 game against Winthrop. Goode’s remained a starter since, also taking Oumar Ballo’s spot against Rutgers on Jan. 2 and filling in for the injured Malik Reneau the past three games. The former Illini is averaging 7.1 points and 2.9 rebounds while shooting 37 percent from three-point range in his first season with the Hoosiers.

“It will look different seeing him run up and down and he’ll probably make a few, but Luke’s still an Illini to me,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “No one loves Luke Goode more than I do. Luke was a special part of this program and will always be a special part of this program.”

Gibbs-Lawhorn trying to energize Illini

Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn played a season-high 31 minutes in Illinois’ loss to Southern Cal. It was both out of necessity given Kasparas Jakucionis’ injury and some foul trouble for Kylan Boswell and for the fact the sophomore guard was one of the few Illini who weren’t lacking for energy against the Trojans. Gibbs-Lawhorn finished that game with 11 points and has averaged that in his last five games, while providing consistent energy off the bench.

“It’s just the spark in me, the fire,” Gibbs-Lawhorn said. “I take blame for part of the USC game. I’ve got to get my team into it. Energize my team a lot more. I’m always going to try and bring as much energy as I can, but I’ve got to start making it contagious to where it can be carried out through the whole team.”

Ivisic’s tall task? Solving problems on defense

Underwood immediately lamented how he used Tomislav Ivisic in Saturday’s loss to USC after the sophomore center played just 17 minutes and had seven points and three rebounds. The Illini run offense through the 7-foot-1 Croatian, and they rely on him as what Underwood called a “problem solver” on defense.

“It’s handling the random,” Underwood said to define problem-solving on defense. “It’s handling the stuff that you’re not necessarily prepared for or go over in a scout and stresses the defense. ... (Ivisic) communicates it. He solves the problem. He helps when help’s needed and doesn’t help when help’s not needed. Nothing is ever perfect on (defense) and doesn’t go just like you planned. When you can solve problems like that and help your teammates in that process, those guys are invaluable.”

The News-Gazette’s pick

No. 19 Illinois 79, Indiana 75

Illinois lost by 10 at home its last time out, snapping a five-game winning streak. Indiana got rocked by 25 at Iowa on the same day, snapping a similar five-game stretch of success. Which team bounces back best? The Illini would certainly be better off if Jakucionis was available after missing the Penn State and USC games. It’s not outlandish, however, to think they’d still be OK even without their star freshman against the Hoosiers. (News-Gazette prediction record: 13-3).

Scott Richey covers college basketball for The News-Gazette. His email is srichey@news-gazette.com, and you can follow him on Twitter (@srrichey).

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