# 2019–20 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 2019–20 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois at Urbana–Champaign in the 2019–20 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by third-year head coach Brad Underwood, the Illini played their home games at State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference. The Illini finished the season 21–10, 13–7 in Big Ten play to finish in fourth place. Their season ended following the cancellation of postseason tournaments due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

## Previous season

The Illini finished the 2018–19 season 12–21, 7–13 in Big Ten play and finished in a three-way tie for 10th place. Due to the tie-breaking rules, they received the No. 11 seed in the Big Ten tournament where they defeated Northwestern in the first round before losing to Iowa in the second round.

## Offseason

The Illini took a trip to Italy and compiled a 3-1 record, beating the three Italian teams they faced and losing to the Dutch team. Cockburn and Feliz did not come on the trip due to visa issues.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Drew Cayce | 3 | G | 6'1" | 175 | RS Junior | Libertyville, IL | Graduated |
| Adonis de La Rosa | 12 | C | 7'0" | 265 | RS Senior | Bronx, NY | Graduated |
| Anthony Higgs | 22 | F | 6'8" | 215 | Freshman | Baltimore, MD | Transferred to Chipola College |
| Aaron Jordan | 23 | G | 6'5" | 210 | Senior | Plainfield, IL | Graduated |
| Samba Kane | 34 | C | 7'0" | 220 | Freshman | Dakar, Senegal | Transferred to Indian Hills Community College |

### 2019 recruiting class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Benjamin Bosmans-Verdonk PF | Lommel, Belgium | KA Pegasus | 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Jun 8, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Kofi Cockburn C | Kingston, Jamaica | Christ the King (NY) / Oak Hill Academy (VA) | 6 ft 11 in (2.11 m) | 290 lb (130 kg) | Jan 6, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Jermaine Hamlin C | Lincoln, Illinois | Lincoln | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 240 lb (110 kg) | Aug 20, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 58 247Sports: 70 ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "2019 Illinois Commits". Rivals.com. "ESPN- Illinois Fighting Illini Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. "2019–20 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team". 247sports.com. ||||||

## Roster

Note: Alan Griffin would later be removed from the roster site due to transferring out of the program.

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Italy Trip |||||||||
| August 6, 2019* 12:00 p.m. | | at CUS Insubria | W 118-56 | 1–0 | 27 – Dosunmu | 11 – Griffin | 5 – Dosunmu | (273) Varese, Italy |
| August 7, 2019* 1:00 p.m. | | at Gazzada All-Stars | W 112-63 | 2–0 | 31 – Griffin | 9 – Bezhanishvili | 8 – Williams | (763) Gazzada Schianno, Italy |
| August 9, 2019* 1:00 p.m. | | at Livorno All-Stars | W 107-74 | 3-0 | 26 – Dosunmu | 10 – Jones | 4 – Williams | (337) Livorno, Italy |
| August 10, 2019* 12:00 p.m. | | vs. The Netherlands National B Team | L 72-82 | 3–1 | 27 – Dosunmu | 6 – Tied | 4 – Dosunmu | (171) Roma, Italy |
| Exhibition |||||||||
| November 1, 2019* 8:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | Lewis | W 83–50 | 0–0 | 16 – Cockburn | 11 – Cockburn | 4 – Dosunmu | State Farm Center (12,867) Champaign, IL |
| Regular season |||||||||
| November 5, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | Nicholls | W 78–70 $^{OT}$ | 1–0 | 23 – Feliz | 11 – Tied | 4 – Frazier | State Farm Center (10,034) Champaign, IL |
| November 8, 2019* 8:00 pm, WCIX | | at Grand Canyon | W 83–71 | 2–0 | 23 – Cockburn | 14 – Cockburn | 6 – Dosunmu | GCU Arena (7,498) Phoenix, AZ |
| November 10, 2019* 8:00 p.m., P12N | | at No. 21 Arizona | L 69–90 | 2–1 | 15 – Dosunmu | 10 – Feliz | 4 – Dosunmu | McKale Center (13,780) Tucson, AZ |
| November 18, 2019* 7:00 p.m., ESPNU | | Hawaii O’ahu Classic | W 66–53 | 3–1 | 15 – Cockburn | 14 – Cockburn | 5 – Feliz | State Farm Center (11,589) Champaign, IL |
| November 20, 2019* 8:00 p.m., BTN | | The Citadel O’ahu Classic | W 85–57 | 4–1 | 18 – Cockburn | 17 – Cockburn | 5 – Frazier | State Farm Center (11,196) Champaign, IL |
| November 23, 2019* 7:00 p.m., BTN Plus | | Hampton O’ahu Classic | W 120–71 | 5–1 | 20 – Dosunmu | 13 – Cockburn | 5 – Tied | State Farm Center (9,732) Champaign, IL |
| November 26, 2019* 7:00 pm, BTN Plus | | Lindenwood O’ahu Classic | W 117–65 | 6–1 | 24 – Dosunmu | 8 – Cockburn | 9 – Feliz | State Farm Center (9,712) Champaign, IL |
| December 2, 2019* 6:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | Miami (FL) ACC–Big Ten Challenge | L 79–81 | 6–2 | 23 – Cockburn | 8 – Bezhanishvili | 5 – Bezhanishvili | State Farm Center (11,819) Champaign, IL |
| December 7, 2019 4:00 p.m., ESPN2 | | at No. 3 Maryland | L 58–59 | 6–3 (0–1) | 13 – Frazier | 8 – Tied | 3 – Dosunmu | Xfinity Center (16,690) College Park, MD |
| December 11, 2019 8:00 p.m., BTN | | No. 5 Michigan | W 71–62 | 7–3 (1–1) | 19 – Cockburn | 10 – Cockburn | 3 – Dosunmu | State Farm Center (13,277) Champaign, IL |
| December 14, 2019* 5:00 p.m., BTN | | Old Dominion | W 69–55 | 8–3 | 15 – Griffin | 9 – Cockburn | 4 – Bezhanishvili | State Farm Center (13,276) Champaign, IL |
| December 21, 2019* 12:00 pm, SECN | | vs. Missouri Braggin' Rights | L 56–63 | 8–4 | 21 – Dosunmu | 6 – Griffin | 2 – Bezhanishvili | Enterprise Center (15,259) St. Louis, MO |
| December 29, 2019* 1:00 p.m., ESPNU | | North Carolina A&T | W 95–64 | 9–4 | 26 – Cockburn | 9 – Cockburn | 5 – Bezhanishvili | State Farm Center (13,676) Champaign, IL |
| January 2, 2020 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 14 Michigan State | L 56–76 | 9–5 (1–2) | 18 – Dosunmu | 9 – Cockburn | 4 – Frazier | Breslin Student Events Center (14,797) East Lansing, MI |
| January 5, 2020 7:00 p.m., FS1 | | Purdue | W 63–37 | 10–5 (2–2) | 16 – Griffin | 12 – Griffin | 6 – Feliz | State Farm Center (12,153) Champaign, IL |
| January 8, 2020 8:00 p.m., BTN | | at Wisconsin | W 71–70 | 11–5 (3–2) | 18 – Dosunmu | 6 – Cockburn | 6 – Dosunmu | Kohl Center (16,108) Madison, WI |
| January 11, 2020 11:00 a.m., BTN | | Rutgers | W 54–51 | 12–5 (4–2) | 18 – Dosunmu | 17 – Cockburn | 2 – Tied | State Farm Center (11,070) Champaign, IL |
| January 18, 2020 4:00 p.m., BTN | No. 24 | Northwestern Rivalry | W 75–71 | 13–5 (5–2) | 16 – Frazier | 7 – Cockburn | 6 – Dosunmu | State Farm Center (14,131) Champaign, IL |
| January 21, 2020 6:00 p.m., ESPNU | No. 21 | at Purdue | W 79–62 | 14–5 (6–2) | 22 – Cockburn | 15 – Cockburn | 11 – Dosunmu | Mackey Arena (14,804) West Lafayette, IN |
| January 25, 2020 11:00 a.m., FS1 | No. 21 | at Michigan | W 64–62 | 15–5 (7–2) | 27 – Dosunmu | 7 – Dosunmu | 2 – Dosunmu | Crisler Center (12,707) Ann Arbor, MI |
| January 30, 2020 6:30 p.m., FS1 | No. 19 | Minnesota | W 59–51 | 16–5 (8–2) | 17 – Feliz | 10 – Cockburn | 4 – Bezhanishvili | State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL |
| February 2, 2020 12:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 19 | at No. 18 Iowa Rivalry | L 65–72 | 16–6 (8–3) | 17 – Feliz | 6 – Tied | 3 – Dosunmu | Carver–Hawkeye Arena (15,056) Iowa City, IA |
| February 7, 2020 7:00 p.m., FS1 | No. 20 | No. 9 Maryland | L 66–75 | 16–7 (8–4) | 16 – Dosunmu | 9 – Griffin | 4 – Dosunmu | State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL |
| February 11, 2020 8:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 22 | Michigan State | L 69–70 | 16–8 (8–5) | 17 – Dosunmu | 9 – Dosunmu | 4 – Frazier | State Farm Center (15,544) Champaign, IL |
| February 15, 2020 3:30 p.m., BTN | No. 22 | at Rutgers | L 57–72 | 16–9 (8–6) | 14 – Griffin | 10 – Cockburn | 4 – Feliz | Louis Brown Athletic Center (8,000) Piscataway, NJ |
| February 18, 2020 5:30 p.m., FS1 | | at No. 9 Penn State | W 62–56 | 17–9 (9–6) | 24 – Dosunmu | 7 – Tied | 4 – Williams | Bryce Jordan Center (9,506) University Park, PA |
| February 24, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN | | Nebraska | W 71–59 | 18–9 (10–6) | 18 – Dosunmu | 10 – Cockburn | 3 – Tied | State Farm Center (15,354) Champaign, IL |
| February 27, 2020 7:00 p.m., BTN | | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 74–66 | 19–9 (11–6) | 24 – Griffin | 14 – Cockburn | 7 – Feliz | Welsh–Ryan Arena (7,039) Evanston, IL |
| March 1, 2020 1:00 p.m., BTN | | Indiana Rivalry | W 67–66 | 20–9 (12–6) | 17 – Dosunmu | 7 – Feliz | 4 – Feliz | State Farm Center (15,554) Champaign, IL |
| March 5, 2020 6:00 p.m., ESPN | No. 23 | at No. 19 Ohio State | L 63–71 | 20–10 (12–7) | 21 – Dosunmu | 11 – Feliz | 5 – Dosunmu | Value City Arena (16,382) Columbus, OH |
| March 8, 2020 6:00 p.m., BTN | No. 23 | No. 18 Iowa Rivalry | W 78–76 | 21–10 (13–7) | 17 – Dosunmu | 8 – Cockburn | 8 – Dosunmu | State Farm Center (15,554) Champaign, IL |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| Canceled |||||||||
| NCAA Tournament |||||||||
| Canceled |||||||||
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Eastern Time. |||||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking — = Not ranked RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | Final |
| AP | RV | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | — | 24 | 21 | 19 | 20 | 22 | RV | RV | 23 | 21 | 21 |
| Coaches | RV | — | — | — | — | — | — | RV | — | — | RV | 22 | 19 | 21 | 23 | RV | RV | 22-T | 22 | 22 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings