How to Watch Indiana's Early Game With Illinois on Saturday

Indiana is trying to stay in the thick of the Big Ten race, and the Hoosiers get a golden opportunity to make up ground with a showdown against league-leader Illinois on Saturday afternoon. Here's how to watch, with gametime and TV information, series and coaching histories, the starting lineups and newsy nuggets.

BLOOMINGTON, Ind. — Indiana has had a week to prepare for Big Ten leader Illinois, and it's time for all that work to pay off when the two rivals meet on Saturday afternoon in a nationally televised game on ESPN.

Both teams are 16-5 on the season, but Illinois is 9-2 in the league and Indiana is two games back at 7-4. But the Hoosiers have won four of five games and have lost only once all season inside Assembly Hall.

Indiana has opened as a 1.5-point favorite as of Saturday morning. Here's the latest on the point spread, with a breakdown of what both teams have done against the number all year. CLICK HERE

• LIVE BLOG: When the game starts, flip over to our LIVE BLOG and follow the game in real time. To get to the blog, CLICK HERE

Here's everything you need to know about the game, with tipoff time and TV information, the latest on the point spread, starting lineups, series history and so much more.

And when the game starts, flip over to our LIVE BLOG right from press row in College Park. To follow the game in real time, starting at 2:30 p.m., CLICK HERE

How to watch Illinois at Indiana 

• Who: Illinois Fighting Illini (16-5, 9-2 in the Big Ten at Indiana Hoosiers (16-5, 7-4 in the Big Ten)
• When: Noon ET, Saturday, Feb. 5, 2022
• Where: Simon Skjodt Assembly Hall, Bloomington, Ind. 
• TV:  ESPN
• Stream: Fubo.tv CLICK HERE
• Announcers: Jason Benetti (play-by-play) and Robbie Hummel (color commentary)
• Radio: Indiana Radio Network, Sirius XM 83
• Announcers: Don Fischer, Errek Suhr and Joe Smith
• Latest Line: Indiana is a 1.5-point favorite over Illinois, according to the SISportsbook.com website opening line as of Saturday morning. The over/under is 137.5. Here's the link to the story on the point spread, and each team's history vs. the number this season. CLICK HERE
• Last year's records: Indiana was 12-15 a year ago and 7-12 in the Big Ten under Archie Miller, and lost to Rutgers 61-50 in the first round of the Big Ten Tournament. They did not qualify for postseason play. Indiana hasn't played in the NCAA Tournament since 2016. ... Illinois was 24-7 a year ago and 16-4 in the Big Ten during the regular season. They beat Rutgers, Iowa and Ohio State to win the Big Ten Tournament, and were a No. 1 seed in the NCAA Tournament. After beating Drexel in the first round, the Illini were upset by No. 8 seed Loyola-Chicago in the second round.
• Poll rankings: Illinois is ranked No. 18 in both the Associated Press and Coaches polls. Indiana is not ranked, but is receiving votes in both polls.
• Kenpom.com rankings: Indiana is No. 24 in the Kenpom.com rankings, moving up eight spots after the road win at Maryland. It's their highest ranking of the season. Illinois is ranked No. 16.

Illinois-Indiana history

• Illinois vs. Indiana series history: Indiana leads the overall series 93-90, but the Hoosiers have lost three in a row. 
• Illinois vs. Indiana last meeting: Illinois beat Indiana 75-71 in overtime on Feb. 2, 2021 in Bloomington. It snapped a seven-game winning streak in Bloomington for Indiana, dating back to a loss in 2010. Trayce Jackson-Davis had 17 points and 14 rebounds for the Hoosiers, and Race Thompson added 18 points and eight rebounds.

Illinois-Indiana most recent games

• Illinois' last game: Kofi Cockburn scored 37 points on 16-of-19 shooting as Illinois beat Wisconsin 80-67 on Wednesday night in Champaign. With the win, the Illini moved into first place in the Big Ten with a 9-2 record.
• Indiana's last game: Indiana got 18 points and 12 rebounds from Race Thompson, including a pair of three-pointers, as the Hoosiers won their second straight road game, winning at Maryland 68-55. Trayce Jackson-Davis had 17 points and point guard Xavier Johnson tied a season-high with nine assists.

Meet the coaches

• Meet Indiana coach Mike Woodson: Mike Woodson is in his first year as a college head coach after four-plus decades as a player and coach in the NBA. Woodson played at Indiana from 1976-80 and left as the school's No. 2 all-time leading scorer while playing for Bob Knight. Woodson was a head coach in the NBA for nine years, six with the Atlanta Hawks and three with the New York Knicks. Woodson is an Indianapolis native. His college coaching record is now 16-5.
• Meet Illinois coach Brad Underwood: Brad Underwood is in his sixth season as the coach of the Fighting Illini. He has a career record of 87-61 with the program. He's led Illinois to two NCAA Tournament appearances during his tenure. He coaches three years at Stephen F. Austin and one year at Oklahoma State before arriving in Champaign. His career record is 196-88. 

Projected starters

• PROJECTED INDIANA STARTERS:
• Trayce Jackson-Davis, 6-foot-9 junior forward: 18.3 points, 8.5 rebounds, 60.1 FG%
• Race Thompson, 6-8 redshirt senior forward: 11.4 points, 7.7 rebounds
• Miller Kopp, 6-7 senior forward: 6.5 points, 2.4 rebounds, 38.7 3-point%
• Parker Stewart, 6-5 senior guard: 6.8 points, 2.0 rebounds, 44.8 3-point%
• Xavier Johnson, 6-3 senior guard: 10.5 points, 4.5 assists, 3.7 rebounds
• PROJECTED ILLINOIS STARTERS:
• Trent Frazier, 6-foot-2 senior guard: 12.8 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.8 assists
• Alfonso Plummer, 6-1 senior guard: 15.3 points, leads league in three-pointers (63).
• Da'Monte Williams, 6-3 senior guard: 4.0 points, 5.7 assists, leads league in assist/turnover ratio (3.05) 
• Jacob Grandison, 6-6 senior forward: 10.9 points, 4.1 rebound 43.2 3-point%
• Kofi Cockburn, 7-0 junior center: 22.1 points, 11.6 rebounds

Nuggets to know

• Nuggets to know, Part 1: Indiana is first in the Big Ten and seventh in country in field goal percentage defense (37.3%). They also lead in Big Ten play in that category (39.8%). The Hoosiers also lead the league in scoring defense (63.4) overall and in conference play (63.8). In conference games, the Hoosiers are second in 3-point field goal defense (32.4%) and blocked shots per game (5.0). But they will be without guard Rob Phinisee (foot) on Saturday, and he is one of the Hoosiers' best perimeter defenders.
• Nuggets to know, Part 2: Trayce Jackson Davis had 17 points against Maryland on Saturday, and now sits at 1,334 career points, good for 29th place all-time. Ted Kitchel is next at 1,336. For the complete list of 1,000-point scorers, CLICK HERE
• Nuggets to know, Part 3: Indiana's Race Thompson has been helping out a lot on. the perimeter lately, too. He went 2-for-2 from deep in both wins over Penn State and Maryland, and that came after starting the season making just 4-of-29 from deep, just 13.8 percent. 
• Nuggets to know, Part 4: Indiana is wearing an alternate jersey Saturday, specially-designed “Cream” jersey from adidas.  “We greatly appreciate our partnership with adidas and welcome the opportunity to team with them to feature three alternate uniforms during the 2021-22 season,” Indiana athletic director Scott Dolson said. “Not only do these special uniforms recognize the contributions of so many both inside and outside our program, but they also offer something different and special to our current student-athletes.”