Scouting report: No. 11 Arizona Wildcats vs. Illinois

PROBABLE STARTERS

ARIZONA

G Kerr Kriisa (6-3 sophomore)

G Dalen Terry (6-6 sophomore)

F Bennedict Mathurin (6-6 sophomore)

F Azuolas Tubelis (6-11 sophomore)

C Christian Koloko (7-0 junior)

ILLINOIS

G Trent Frazier (6-2 senior)

G Alfonso Plummer (6-1 senior)

F Da’Monte Williams (6-3 senior)

F Coleman Hawkins (6-10 sophomore)

C Kofi Cockburn (7-0 junior)

HOW THEY MATCH UP

The series: Arizona leads Illinois 9-6 overall and is 3-0 since the Illini pulled off its memorable comeback from a 14-point deficit with 3:20 remaining to beat Arizona in overtime during the 2005 Elite Eight. The Wildcats have since beaten the Illini 84-72 in Phoenix during the 2006-07 season, 78-72 in overtime at Chicago during the 2007-08 season and 90-69 at McKale Center early in the 2019-20 season. UA’s freshmen trio of Nico Mannion (23 points), Josh Green (20) and Zeke Nnaji (19) led the Wildcats in that Nov. 11, 2019 game at McKale.

Game contract: Saturday’s game is the return of a home-and-home contract that had the Illini visiting McKale in 2019-20. It was originally scheduled to be played in Champaign, Illinois, on Dec. 12, 2020 but the teams agreed to push it back to this season because of COVID-19 concerns, with Arizona playing only home nonconference games last season. It was officially moved to Saturday with an addendum signed on Nov. 12, 2020.

Who’s out: Illinois guard Andre Curbelo is doubtful after suffering a concussion and neck injury so far this season. Illinois coach Brad Underwood said Friday that Curbelo’s status has not changed but that he’s “getting much better.” UA would not say Friday if reserve forward Kim Aiken was making the trip to Illinois; he missed Wednesday’s game against Wyoming for what the UA said were personal reasons.

Illinois overview: Though Loyola-Chicago bounced them in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season, the Illini returned to national prominence last season in ways not seen since that 2005 Final Four appearance. Illinois finished one game behind Michigan in the Big Ten, finished No. 2 in the final Associated Press Top 25 poll entering the NCAA Tournament, picked up a No. 1 NCAA Tournament seed, and featured two AP all-Americans: Guard Ayo Dosunmo on the first team and center Kofi Cockburn on the second team.

While Dosunmo left for the NBA, Cockburn made a surprise return from the NBA Draft pool and the transfer portal, and Illini has remained on the national stage as a result. Illinois was ranked 11th in the preseason poll, and while November losses to Marquette and Cincinnati knocked them out, they won at Iowa and are likely to return to the Top 25 with at least a strong effort against Arizona.

Not surprisingly, Cockburn is as much of a force inside as ever. Not only does he average a double-double (22.8 points, 11.8 rebounds) but he hits 64.5% of his 2-point shots and picks up eight fouls per 40 minutes played, ranking eighth nationally. He converts free throws at a 71.4% rate.

Even without Curbelo and Dosunmo, the Wildcats will still have to face a familiar backcourt menace in Alfonso Plummer, who led the Pac-12 last season in made 3-pointers (2.56 per game) while playing for Utah. Plummer is shooting 43.1% from behind the line this season at Illinois and averaging 15.8 points.

Despite dealing with shoulder and knee issues already this season, veteran Trent Frazier has taken on most of the point guard duties along with Da’Monte Williams, who is also a 3-and-D factor on the wing though he’s hit only 37.8% of his 3s so far this season. Jacob Grandison and Coleman Hawkins have been steady forwards. Grandison is the Illini’s best percentage 3-point shooter (48.4) and their third leading scorer, averaging 12.5 points and 4.0 rebounds per game, while Hawkins averages 9.3 points and 6.0 rebounds.

While Illinois is fearsome on the glass, outrebounding opponents by 14.3 per game, the Illini has a weakness in ballhandling that could help the Wildcats keep control of the ball enough to force its fast tempo. Illinois has committed an average of 15.9 turnovers a game and turns over the ball on 22.6% of its possessions, the 42nd-highest turnover percentage out of 358 Division I teams.

He said it: “Trent Frazier’s really doing a nice job scoring, making 3-point shots, knocking down free throws and doing the things a point guard needs to do to help the team win. Plummer can also handle the basketball and he’s doing a fantastic job of making shots. He’s on a tear right now.

“(Williams) is kind of a glue guy. I think he has allowed himself to probably sacrifice some of his game for the good of the team. He’s leading their team in assists, and he’s a big time rebounder from the wing position, so he does a lot of the little things that sometimes maybe go unnoticed.

“(Grandison) can play multiple positions. He can play the small-ball four (position) and he can shoot the basketball. He’s an active player who does a lot of good things for them. Hawkins is a very aggressive player, finishing plays, getting to the boards, knocking down shots from the outside. He’s very involved on the court.

“(Cockburn) is a load. He may be the biggest guy we played against all year and certainly a very effective player. He’s scoring the ball. He’ll be a challenge for us to handle because of the size and in the job that he does around the basket. Our big guys will have their hands full and be will be tested each and every time up and down the floor.”

— UA assistant coach Steve Robinson, who scouted the Illini.

KEY PLAYERS

Illinois — Kofi Cockburn

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A consensus second-team all-American pick last season, the 7-foot center has continued to dominate inside. It doesn’t really pay off anymore to just foul him, either: His free-throw shooting jumped up from 55.3% last season to 71.4% this season

ARIZONA — Kerr Kriisa

Arizona’s headband-wearing, floor-diving sophomore point guard has shown an affinity for getting under the skin of opposing teams and their fans. But, while he’s played in front of big crowds in Europe, Saturday’s game will be the first time he’s faced a truly hostile crowd as a collegian.

SIDELINES

They don’t make ‘em like this anymore

By today’s scheduling standards, Illinois coach Brad Underwood and former UA coach Sean Miller might be outliers.

They agreed to play each other on their home floors in the sort of home-and-home series that isn’t seen as often anymore, with many high major teams saddled with expanded conference schedules and mutli-team events that make them reluctant to schedule challenging road games with whatever is left on the calendar.

Underwood brought the Illini to Tucson in November 2019, and the return game, pushed back a year by COVID concerns, is being played Saturday in Champaign.

That’s the way it should be, Underwood indicated.

“Our fans get to see us; our fans get to see a high-quality opponent in our building,” Underwood said Friday. “I think one of the travesties in college basketball is we don’t play home-and-homes, and our fans deserve the opportunity to see these games.

“It prepares you to go on the road in the Big Ten. I love the games. I think our players love them, and they’re great for our fans.”

They may be needed

Even with forward Kim Aiken out and guards Kerr Kriisa and Pelle Larsson suffering ankle sprains that briefly put them in the locker room, the Wildcats still essentially used only eight players on Wednesday in an easy win over Wyoming.

But coach Tommy Lloyd played freshman guard Shane Nowell and walk-on forward Jordan Mains for three minutes each, then stuck in freshman guard Adama Bal for a minute, and said afterward he could need their help more in the future.

“You can do it with eight (but) we’ve got to get Adama and Shane brought along a little bit, and then we could play a small lineup a little bit,” Lloyd said. “The seasons are crazy. You get a twisted ankle here, a twisted ankle there, a guy’s back is sore. You’re managing a lot. You don’t get to go through a season in a vacuum. You’re going through a season with bumps and bruises and aches and pains and you need a great training staff and you need tough guys. That’s how you manage it.”

Even though reserve guard Justin Kier wound up with an efficient 13 points on 5-for-9 shooting, while dishing three assist to no turnovers against Wyoming, he totaled 23 minutes.

“Justin could probably be playing a few more minutes, and I love having him on our team,” Lloyd said. “I was planning on playing him more. It’s just that that first group was rolling. At Oregon State our first group struggled a little bit. Those subs came and picked us up. So it’s a game to game thing. Sometimes a guy’s minutes might not be what you want, but it might not be his fault. It might be his teammates are just playing great.”

NCAA tea leaves at Auburn?

Both Arizona and Auburn self-imposed postseason bans last season after their former assistants were implicated by the FBI in a scheme funneling money to them in exchange for promising to steer their players to a firm for professional representation. Auburn’s Chuck Person took $91,500, according to federal prosecutors, while UA’s Book Richardson admitted to taking $20,000.

Auburn avoided an additional postseason ban when the NCAA announced its punishment on Friday. However, there’s still no telling if Arizona will be able to do the same.

The difference is that Richardson’s actions in taking the bribes resulted in only one of five Level I charges leveld by the NCAA.

Arizona also faces a Level I charge of academic misconduct by Richardson and former assistant Mark Phelps, and a Level I charge that alleges Phelps tried to cover up a loan to a player — both charges that did not originate in the initial FBI investigation that looked into the scheme that involved both Person and Richardson.

UA also faces a Level I charge for a lack of head coach responsibility with former coach Sean Miller and another for the athletic department as a whole.

There’s another difference: Auburn went along with the standard NCAA resolution process, while Arizona’s case is being handled by the Independent Accountability Resolution Process after the school requested it be moved off the standard track.

Both the NCAA’s enforcement staff and the IARP’s Complex Case Unit have charged UA with the exact same five Level I charges. The IARP started accepting cases in March 2020 and now has six of them, but none have been settled yet.

Numbers game

1

Arizona’s rank in effective field-goal percentage defense (39.5%), a metric that gives 50-percent more weight to made 3-point shots.

38.0

Percent of the time Arizona rebounds its missed shots, the 10th best offensive rebounding percentage in Division I.

41.5

Percent of the time Illinois rebounds its missed shots, the third-best offensive rebounding percentage in Division I.

65

Dollars for the cheapest resale ticket listed on StubHub.com as of Friday afternoon. The game is a sellout.