Illinois hosts Eastern Illinois in season opener

Head Coach Brad Underwood

Career record: 252-115 (.687), 12th year

In Illinois: 143-88 (.619), 8th year

Big Ten: 80-58 (.580)

Series history

All-time record vs. Eastern Illinois: Illinois leads 8-0

Include in champagne: Same

Last meeting: #25 Illinois 80, Eastern Illinois 52 (11/6/2023 in Champaign)

Underwood vs. Eastern Illinois: 2-0

Opening tips

• Illinois opens its 120th season of men’s basketball on Monday, hosting Eastern Illinois (7 p.m. CT, B1G+).
• The Illini have posted an all-time record of 105-14 (.882) in season openers.
• The Fighting Illini have won eight straight openers, a streak that began on November 11, 2016 with an 81-62 win over Southeastern Missouri.
• Illinois has hosted Eastern Illinois for the season opener the past two seasons, defeating the Panthers 80-52 to open the 2023-2024 season and securing an 87-57 win over EIU to open the 2022-2023 season open.
• The Illini are 40-2 all-time (.952) to start the season at State Farm Center.
• Illinois has won 27 straight games to open the year at State Farm Center, a run that began on Dec. 1, 1993, with a 99-73 victory over La Salle.
• Illinois is just outside the Top 25 in the AP preseason poll, receiving the most points (92) among unranked teams. The Illini, meanwhile, check in at No. 24 in the preseason coaches poll.
• Illinois is the winningest team in the Big Ten over the past five seasons, going 69-31 (.690) in league play. The Illini won the 2024 Big Ten Tournament championship as the No. 2 seed, captured the regular season championship in 2022 and led the conference in wins while adding a B1G tournament crown in 2021.
• Illinois traveled to Oxford, Miss., to take on No. 24 Ole Miss in a charity exhibition game on Oct. 27. The contest benefited CASA of North Mississippi.
• The Illini’s preseason started with a closed scrimmage against Butler on Oct. 13 in Champaign.

Illinois-EIU storylines

• Despite having campuses 50 miles apart, Illinois will face Eastern Illinois for the third time in the last 22 years on Monday night, all in the last three season openers.
• Monday is the ninth meeting between the program. Illinois has won its previous eight games, all in Champaign.
• Prior to the start of his first season at Illinois, head coach Brad Underwood and the Illini also played a hurricane relief game in Charleston on November 3, 2017. The sold-out crowd at Lantz Arena watched the Panthers roll to an 80-67 win in the second half.
• Eastern Illinois athletic director Tom Michael was a four-year letterwinner for the Fighting Illini from 1991 to 1994. Michael is one of the best shooters in program history and still holds Illini season (.493) and career (.449) 3-point percentage records. Following his playing career, Michael spent 18 years in the U of I’s Division of Intercollegiate Athletics, rising to Senior Associate Athletic Director, before taking the reins at EIU in 2014.
• Illinois assistant coach Geoff Alexander served on EIU head coach Marty Simmons’ staff at Evansville for five seasons (2013-2017).
• EIU assistant coach Rich McBride was a four-year letterwinner for the Illini (2004-2007), and the team’s co-captain and co-MVP during his senior season.
• Fighting Illini F Ben Humrichous and EIU F Skeou Kalle were teammates in 2023-2024 in Evansville. Humrichous started all 24 games he played for the Purple Aces and averaged 14.7 points and 4.7 rebounds. Kalle appeared in 21 games off the bench, averaging 1.8 points and 1.5 rebounds in 6.6 minutes per game. .

Complete Illinois Game Notes (PDF)