How to Watch Nebraska Men’s Basketball vs. No. 18 Illinois: Preview, Breakdown, TV Channel
![Purdue Boilermakers guard Gicarri Harris (24) defends Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Ahron Ulis (2) Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, during the NCAA men’s basketball game at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind. Purdue Boilermakers guard Gicarri Harris (24) defends Nebraska Cornhuskers guard Ahron Ulis (2) Sunday, Jan. 12, 2025, during the NCAA men’s basketball game at Mackey Arena in West Lafayette, Ind.](https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/upload/c_crop,w_3887,h_2186,x_0,y_0/c_fill,w_720,ar_16:9,f_auto,q_auto,g_auto/images/ImagnImages/mmsport/all_huskers/01jjkxady1zsg0tkeyhf.jpg)
New lineup, new opponent, same result.
The misery continued for the Nebraska men’s basketball team on Sunday afternoon as the Huskers looked lifeless for most of an 83-55 loss to No. 18 Wisconsin at the Kohl Center in Madison. The defeat marked NU’s sixth straight – having not won a game since the 66-58 win over No. 15 UCLA to tie the school record for most wins at home with 20.
Head coach Fred Hoiberg shuffled the lineup in hope of creating some juice within his team, starting his son Sam Hoiberg, and big man Andrew Morgan. Neither made huge impacts, much like the rest of the team who shot 33.9% from the field while allowing the Badgers to nail 17 three pointers. Omaha native John Tonje hit five treys while lighting up the Huskers with a game-high 27 points.
Nebraska now sits 17th in the conference standings, which isn’t enough to even qualify for the Big Ten Tournament. Something will have to spark for NU in the coming days as they prepare for their second-straight ranked opponent in the form of Illinois.
Here’s all you need to know as the Huskers host the Illini Thursday night inside Pinnacle Bank Arena.
How to Follow Along
- Matchup: Nebraska (12-8, 2-7 B1G) vs. No. 18 Illinois (14-6, 6-4 B1G)
- When: Thursday, January 30. 2025
- Where: Pinnacle Bank Arena, Lincoln, Ne.
- Time: 7:30 p.m. CST
- Watch: FS1
- Listen: Huskers Radio Network and Affiliates
No. 18 Illinois Scout
Head Coach: Brad Underwood | 8th Season at Illinois; 15th as Head Coach | 157-94 (.625) at Illinois; 266-121 (.687) Career HC Record | 8x NCAA Tournament Appearances, 1x Elite Eight | 2x B1G Tournament titles, 1x B1G Regular Season title; 3x Southland Regular Season titles, 3x Southland Tournament titles | 3x Southland Coach OTY, Joe B. Hall Coach OTY (2014) | Previous head coach at Oklahoma State, Stephen F. Austin, Daytona Beach CC & Dodge City CC | Previous assistant at South Carolina, Kansas State, Western Illinois & Hardin-Simmons.
2023-2024 Record: 29-9 (14-6 B1G, 2nd) | 2x All-B1G first team, 1x All-B1G third team | L, 77-52 to UConn in NCAA Elite Eight.
All-Time Series: Illinois leads 22-8 (2024 B1G Tournament Semifinals last matchup, 98-78 ILL).
Key Returners: Ty Rodgers, G/F, Jr. | Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, G, Soph. | AJ Redd, G, Jr.
Key Additions: Kasparas Jakucionis, G, Fr. (Recruit) | Tomislav Ivisic, C, Soph. (Montenegro) | Kylan Boswell, G, Jr. (Arizona) | Tre White, G, Jr. (Louisville) | Will Riley, F, Fr. (Recruit) | Ben Humrichous, F, Gr. (Evansville) | Morez Johnson Jr., F, Fr. (Recruit) | Jake Davis, F, Soph. (Mercer) | Carey Booth, F, Soph. (Notre Dame).
Key Departures: Terrence Shannon Jr., G (NBA Draft) | Marcus Domask, G/F (Eligibility) | Coleman Hawkins, F, Gr. (Kansas State) | Quincy Guerrier, G/F (Eligibility) | Dain Dainja, F, Sr. (Memphis) | Luke Goode, F, Sr. (Indiana) | Justin Harmon, G (Eligibility).
Outlook: Brad Underwood finally had his breakout season in his seventh year at Illinois, leading the Illini to a 29-9 record with a Big Ten Tournament title and a finish in the Elite Eight – only losing to eventual national champion UConn.
Following such a historic season for the Illini, the 2024-2025 season was always going to be a pivot with breaking in a new core. Only three of the 15 players from that Elite Eight team returned to Champaign, but you wouldn't be able to tell with Illinois’ record through 20 games. With a brand-new starting five, the Illini are 14-6 with a 6-4 record in conference play which is tied for fifth in the Big Ten.
The makeup job from Underwood and his staff has been impressive to watch and that’s been due to their recruiting prowess overseas. 6-foot-6 Lithuanian freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis leads the team with 15.9 points, 5.4 rebounds and 4.9 assists per game in his first 20 career college basketball contests. The Illini also grabbed 7-foot-1 center Tomislav Ivisic from Croatia where he’s averaging 13.0 PPG and 8.5 RPG (8th in B1G). He has extensive experience as a member of the Croatia National Team and has played the last three seasons in the Adriatic League First Division in Montenegro.
Not far behind those two is Arizona transfer guard Kylan Boswell (12.6 PPG) where he was one of the best turnover-creating guards in the last year of the Pac-12. 6-foot-7 guard Tre White averages 10.3 PPG and 5.4 RPG for the Illini after coming over Louisville where he played in 29 games last season. Graduate transfer Ben Humrichois was named to last year’s Missouri Valley Conference All-Newcomer team after leading Evansville in scoring with 14.7 points per game. He rounds out the starting lineup with 8.9 points per contest while shooting 36.8% from three-point range where he leads the team in attempts (114).
Another true freshman, Will Riley, is the sixth man for Illinois and rounds out the five double-digit scorers by averaging 10.1 PPG and 3.6 RPG. One of the three returners from last year’s team, Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn adds 7.6 PPG off the bench with freshman Morez Johnson Jr. chipping in 6.5 PPG in over 16 minutes per game.
The depth of scoring is impressive for the Illini who have eight players averaging 6.5 points or more. That has resulted in the conference’s second-best scoring offense at 85.8 PPG. Although, what makes that stat interesting is that Illinois are actually one of the worst shooting teams in the Big Ten sitting tied for 16th in field goal (44.5) and 17th in three-point percentage (31.9). What makes that up is the amount of second chance opportunities that the Illini create with its rebounding. They lead the conference in total rebounds per game (45.0), defensive rebounds (31.5) and offensive rebounds (13.5).
Illinois grinded out a much-needed win over Northwestern Sunday afternoon 83-74 to break a streak where they had lost three of their four previous contests. The Illini have been pretty consistent this season, losing only to No. 8 Alabama, Northwestern (OT), No. 1 Tennessee, USC, No. 12 Michigan State and Maryland.
At this point in time, it’s not smart nor responsibly to predict a Nebraska win until they show some life. The keys to this one will be limiting the Illini’s rebounding, and stopping the three ball. In the six-game losing streak, the Huskers have allowed a three-point percentage of 45.0 to their opponents. Until that slows down, NU isn’t going to be winning much at all.
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