No. 20 Illinois faces battle-tested Southern

Physically rested from a week-long Christmas break, No. 20 Illinois nonetheless returns to the floor against Southern on Monday in Champaign, Ill., with little reprieve from coach Brad Underwood's favorite talking point.

"The thing that helps us more than anything is offensive rebounding," Underwood said. "That's all I harp on. I think if you ask every player the thing I talk about the most, and it's offensive rebounding. We work on it every single day getting guys to create habits. That leads to your efficiency. That leads to fouls being drawn. That leads to unguarded threes."

"Those are the baskets you don't have to grind and earn, and all you have to do is go to the glass. Our efficiency, our abilities on that end, are really predicated on being able to (offensive rebound) at a high level."

Illinois (9-3) will aim to replicate that formula against the Jaguars (4-8). It worked to near-perfection for the Fighting Illini Dec. 22 during a 91-48 romp against Missouri in the Braggin' Rights rivalry game in St. Louis.

Fifteen offensive rebounds produced 29 second-chance points, including a first-half run in which three straight offensive boards triggered treys. Keaton Wagler, Ben Humrichous, and Jake Davis each connected during the spurt.

According to KenPom.com, the Illini entered the weekend ranked 13th nationally in offensive rebounding as they have collected 39.3% of their misses.

Even the slender Wagler has proven a quick study of Underwood's strategy. The freshman guard went a career-best 5-for-6 from deep en route to 22 points. Four of his career-high-tying eight rebounds, meanwhile, were offensive.

"When everyone crashes the glass, teams get worn out from that and they don't really want to box out every time," Wagler said. "We know if we all go, we're going to get the ball. That's easy points."

Andrej Stojakovic followed Wagler with 16 points. Stojakovic has scored in double figures in three straight games.

Zvonimir Ivisic has grabbed multiple offensive rebounds three times this season. Four of his season-high 11 rebounds against Missouri were on the offensive glass.

Southern enters on a four-game losing streak and has beaten just one Div. I team this season, but a rugged nonconference schedule has tested the program favored to win the Southwestern Athletic Conference.

The Jaguars are coming off a 111-67 loss on Dec. 21 at Baylor. They started the four-game slide with a 26-point defeat at Texas. Southern opened the season with a 32-point loss at then-No. 14 Arkansas but pushed host Washington to the brink two weeks later, falling 99-93 in double overtime.

That result especially registered on the radar of Baylor coach Scott Drew.

"They played Washington at Washington, double-overtime game," Drew said. "We know how good Washington is. ... They definitely caught our attention."

Jaguars leading scorer Michael Jacobs doesn't figure to escape Illinois' notice on Monday. The junior college transfer averages 20.9 points on 50% shooting that includes a 42.9% effort from 3-point range.

Jacobs regrouped against Baylor, contributing his eighth 20-point game of the season after being limited to 11 points at Texas.

Malek Abdelgowad (11.8) and Cam Amboree (10.1) also average double-figure scoring for Southern.

Illinois leads the all-time series with Southern 2-0. The schools last met on Nov. 19, 2023, with the No. 23 Fighting Illini rolling to an 88-60 home victory.

--Field Level Media