# 2020–21 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

The 2020–21 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by fourth-year head coach Brad Underwood, the Illini played their home games at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 24–7, 16–4 in Big Ten play to finish in second place. They defeated Rutgers, Iowa, and Ohio State to win the Big Ten tournament and receive the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. Making their first tournament appearance since 2013. They entered as the No. 1 seed in the Midwest region, they defeated Drexel in the First Round before being upset by No. 8-seeded Loyola–Chicago in the Second Round.

## Previous season

The Illini finished the 2019–20 season 21–10, 13–7 in Big Ten play to finish in fourth place. Their season ended when the Big Ten tournament and the NCAA tournament were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

## Offseason

On April 7, 2020, freshman big man Kofi Cockburn declared for the NBA draft, but did not hire an agent, leaving open the chance that he would return to school for his sophomore season. On April 16, sophomore guard Ayo Dosunmu also declared for the draft. Dosunmu did not hire an agent, but stated that he intended to stay in the draft. On July 31, Cockburn and Dosunmu announced they had withdrawn from the NBA draft and would return to Illinois for the season.

### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Notes |
| Andrés Feliz | 10 | G | 6'2" | 195 | Senior | Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic | Graduated |
| Alan Griffin | 0 | F | 6'5" | 195 | Sophomore | White Plains, NY | Transferred to Syracuse |
| Tevian Jones | 5 | F | 6'7" | 205 | Sophomore | Culver City, CA | Transferred to Southern Utah |
| Kipper Nichols | 2 | F | 6'6" | 220 | RS Senior | Cleveland, Ohio | Graduated |
| Samson Oladimeji | 35 | C | 6'4" | 210 | Senior | Rolling Meadows, Illinois | Graduated |

### 2020 Recruiting Class

College recruiting information :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| André Curbelo PG | San Juan, Puerto Rico | Long Island Lutheran (NY) | 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) | 175 lb (79 kg) | Nov 3, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 83 ||||||
| Coleman Hawkins PF | Antelope, California | Prolific Prep | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Nov 16, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 80 ||||||
| Adam Miller SG | Chicago, Illinois | Morgan Park | 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Nov 21, 2019 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: ESPN grade: 89 ||||||
| Brandon Lieb C | Deerfield, Illinois | Deerfield | 7 ft 0 in (2.13 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Jun 25, 2020 |
| Star ratings: Rivals: 247Sports: ESPN: N/A ESPN grade: N/A ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Rivals: 15 247Sports: 16 ||||||
| 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: "2020 Illinois Commits". Rivals.com. "ESPN- Illinois Fighting Illini Men's Basketball Recruiting". ESPN.com. "2020 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. "2020–21 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team". 247sports.com. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | High points | High rebounds | High assists | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Non-Conference regular season |||||||||
| November 25, 2020* 1:00 pm, BTN | No. 8 | North Carolina A&T | W 122–60 | 1–0 | 28 – Tied | 10 – Tied | 7 – Williams | State Farm Center (132) Champaign, IL |
| November 26, 2020* 11:00 am, BTN | No. 8 | Chicago State | W 97–38 | 2–0 | 22 – Dosunmu | 11 – Cockburn | 7 – Dosunmu | State Farm Center (143) Champaign, IL |
| November 27, 2020* 12:00 pm, BTN | No. 8 | Ohio | W 77–75 | 3–0 | 27 – Dosunmu | 14 – Cockburn | 8 – Dosunmu | State Farm Center (155) Champaign, IL |
| December 2, 2020* 9:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | vs. No. 2 Baylor Jimmy V Classic | L 69–82 | 3–1 | 18 – Dosunmu | 7 – Williams | 5 – Dosunmu | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (0) Indianapolis, IN |
| December 5, 2020* 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 5 | UT-Martin | Canceled due to COVID-19 within UT-Martin program | Canceled due to COVID-19 within UT-Martin program | Canceled due to COVID-19 within UT-Martin program | Canceled due to COVID-19 within UT-Martin program | Canceled due to COVID-19 within UT-Martin program | State Farm Center Champaign, IL |
| December 8, 2020* 8:30 pm, ESPN | No. 6 | at No. 10 Duke ACC–Big Ten Challenge | W 83–68 | 4–1 | 18 – Dosunmu | 12 – Dosunmu | 5 – Dosunmu | Cameron Indoor Stadium (0) Durham, NC |
| December 12, 2020* 7:00 pm, ESPNU | No. 6 | at Missouri Braggin' Rights | L 78–81 | 4–2 | 36 – Dosunmu | 6 – Cockburn | 4 – Curbelo | Mizzou Arena (578) Columbia, MO |
| Big Ten regular season |||||||||
| December 15, 2020 6:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 13 | Minnesota | W 92–65 | 5–2 (1–0) | 33 – Cockburn | 13 – Cockburn | 9 – Curbelo | State Farm Center (173) Champaign, IL |
| December 20, 2020 12:00 pm, ESPN2 | No. 13 | at No. 19 Rutgers | L 88–91 | 5–3 (1–1) | 22 – Dosunmu | 12 – Cockburn | 6 – Dosunmu | Rutgers Athletic Center (0) Piscataway, NJ |
| December 23, 2020 5:30 pm, BTN | No. 18 | at Penn State | W 98–81 | 6–3 (2–1) | 30 – Dosunmu | 7 – Grandison | 8 – Curbelo | Bryce Jordan Center (158) University Park, PA |
| December 26, 2020 3:00 pm, FS1 | No. 18 | Indiana Rivalry | W 69–60 | 7–3 (3–1) | 30 – Dosunmu | 15 – Cockburn | 5 – Dosunmu | State Farm Center (178) Champaign, IL |
| January 2, 2021 5:00 pm, BTN | No. 15 | Purdue | W 66–58 | 8–3 (4–1) | 14 – Cockburn | 10 – Tied | 6 – Curbelo | State Farm Center (167) Champaign, IL |
| January 7, 2021 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 12 | at Northwestern Rivalry | W 81–56 | 9–3 (5–1) | 18 – Cockburn | 12 – Cockburn | 7 – Curbelo | Welsh–Ryan Arena (0) Evanston, IL |
| January 10, 2021 7:00 pm, BTN | No. 12 | Maryland | L 63–66 | 9–4 (5–2) | 23 – Dosunmu | 10 – Cockburn | 5 – Tied | State Farm Center (169) Champaign, IL |
| January 16, 2021 11:00 am, FOX | No. 14 | No. 21 Ohio State | L 81–87 | 9–5 (5–3) | 22 – Dosunmu | 11 – Cockburn | 5 – Dosunmu | State Farm Center (175) Champaign, IL |
| January 19, 2021 7:30 pm, BTN | No. 22 | Penn State | W 79–65 | 10–5 (6–3) | 21 – Cockburn | 12 – Cockburn | 5 – Dosunmu | State Farm Center (148) Champaign, IL |
| January 29, 2021 8:00 pm, FS1 | No. 19 | No. 7 Iowa Rivalry | W 80–75 | 11–5 (7–3) | 25 – Dosunmu | 10 – Tied | 8 – Curbelo | State Farm Center (190) Champaign, IL |
| February 2, 2021 8:00 pm, ESPN | No. 12 | at Indiana Rivalry | W 75–71 $^{OT}$ | 12–5 (8–3) | 19 – Frazier | 10 – Cockburn | 4 – Curbelo | Assembly Hall (0) Bloomington, IN |
| February 6, 2021 1:30 pm, FOX | No. 12 | No. 19 Wisconsin | W 75–60 | 13–5 (9–3) | 23 – Cockburn | 14 – Cockburn | 12 – Dosunmu | State Farm Center (180) Champaign, IL |
| February 12, 2021 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 6 | at Nebraska | W 77–72 $^{OT}$ | 14–5 (10–3) | 31 – Dosunmu | 13 – Cockburn | 6 – Dosunmu | Pinnacle Bank Arena (0) Lincoln, NE |
| February 16, 2021 8:00 pm, BTN | No. 5 | Northwestern Rivalry | W 73–66 | 15–5 (11–3) | 17 – Cockburn | 10 – Cockburn | 5 – Tied | State Farm Center (162) Champaign, IL |
| February 20, 2021 2:30 pm, FOX | No. 5 | at Minnesota | W 94–63 | 16–5 (12–3) | 22 – Cockburn | 10 – Dosunmu | 10 – Dosunmu | Williams Arena (56) Minneapolis, MN |
| February 23, 2021 6:00 pm, FS1 | No. 5 | at Michigan State | L 72–81 | 16–6 (12–4) | 22 – Frazier | 9 – Dosunmu | 5 – Dosunmu | Breslin Center (0) East Lansing, MI |
| February 25, 2021 6:00 pm, BTN | No. 5 | Nebraska Senior Night | W 86–70 | 17–6 (13–4) | 24 – Cockburn | 12 – Curbelo | 8 – Curbelo | State Farm Center (192) Champaign,IL |
| February 27, 2021 1:00 pm, ESPN | No. 5 | at No. 23 Wisconsin | W 74–69 | 18–6 (14–4) | 19 – Cockburn | 8 – Grandison | 4 – Tied | Kohl Center (0) Madison, WI |
| March 2, 2021 6:00 pm, ESPN | No. 4 | at No. 2 Michigan | W 76–53 | 19–6 (15–4) | 22 – Frazier | 7 – Cockburn | 5 – Grandison | Crisler Center (94) Ann Arbor, MI |
| March 6, 2021 3:00 pm, ESPN | No. 4 | at No. 7 Ohio State | W 73–68 | 20–6 (16–4) | 19 – Tie | 6 – Tie | 6 – Curbelo | Value City Arena Columbus, OH |
| Big Ten tournament |||||||||
| March 12, 2021 5:30 pm, BTN | (2) No. 3 | vs. (7) Rutgers Quarterfinals | W 90–68 | 21–6 | 23 – Dosunmu | 12 – Cockburn | 6 – Dosunmu | Lucas Oil Stadium (7,735) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 13, 2021 2:30 pm, CBS | (2) No. 3 | vs. (3) No. 5 Iowa Semifinals | W 82–71 | 22–6 | 26 – Cockburn | 9 – Williams | 9 – Dosunmu | Lucas Oil Stadium (8,000) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 14, 2021 2:30 pm, CBS | (2) No. 3 | vs. (5) No. 9 Ohio State Championship | W 91–88 $^{OT}$ | 23–6 | 16 – Tied | 9 – Tied | 5 – Curbelo | Lucas Oil Stadium (8,000) Indianapolis, IN |
| NCAA tournament |||||||||
| March 19, 2021 12:15 pm, TBS | (1 MW) No. 2 | vs. (16 MW) Drexel First Round | W 78–49 | 24–6 | 18 – Cockburn | 10 – Dosunmu | 6 – Dosunmu | Indiana Farmers Coliseum (968) Indianapolis, IN |
| March 21, 2021 11:10 am, CBS | (1 MW) No. 2 | vs. (8 MW) No. 17 Loyola–Chicago Second Round | L 58–71 | 24–7 | 21 – Cockburn | 9 – Cockburn | 7 – Curbelo | Bankers Life Fieldhouse (3,670) Indianapolis, IN |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central Time. |||||||||
Source

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | 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 | Final |
| AP | 8 | 5 | 6 | 13 | 18 | 15 | 12 | 14 | 22 | 19 | 12 | 6 | 5 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | Not released |
| Coaches | 10 | 10^ | 9 | 13 | 18 | 16 | 12 | 13 | 24 | 22 | 13 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 8 |
*AP does not release post-NCAA Tournament rankings ^Coaches did not release a Week 1 poll.