Texas Longhorns basketball: Texas-Illinois Preview
The No. 2 ranked Texas Longhorns take the court tonight to take on a third top 25 ranked opponent this season. Tonight will be different with the Longhorns taking on a quality opponent outside the state of Texas for a first time in 2022-23.
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The Longhorns (6-0) take on No. 17 Illinois (6-2) Tuesday night at 6 p.m. Central on ESPN as part of the Jimmy V Classic. Chris Beard and the squad already beat No. 18 Gonzaga (6-3) and No. 21 Creighton (6-3) this season.
Texas sports highest ranking since the 2010 season
The Longhorns enter Thursday night’s game with its highest poll ranking since the 2010 season.
Texas is ranked No. 2 for a second consecutive week. The Longhorns are ranked behind only the Houston Cougars in the week 5 AP Top 25 Poll. This is the first time Houston has been ranked No. 1 since 1983. The last time Texas was ranked No. 1 was in the January 18, 2010 poll.
Behind Texas one spot at No. 3 is Virginia (8-0) with No. 4 Purdue (8-0) and No. 5 UConn (8-0) rounding out the top 5.
How to watch the game
Texas (6-0) and Illinois (6-2) tipoff at 6 p.m. Central on ESPN with Dan Shulman (play by play), Jay Bilas (color analyst) and Holly Rowe (reporter) will call the action.
The game will be played at Madison Square Garden (20,789).
Texas leads the series with Illinois 3-2. The last meeting was a 90-84 Texas overtime victory on November 18, 2010 in New York City.
The Chris Beard File
Chris Beard enters Wednesday with a career record of 170-72. This is his eighth season at the Division I level. Beard has posted a 75-51 conference record in seven seasons.
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Beard is 5-0 all-time in NCAA Tournament Round of 64 games. He sports an 11-5 career record in five NCAA Tournament appearances. That includes a National Championship game appearance in 2018-19 while at Texas Tech. He led the Red Raiders to the Elite 8 the year before in 2017-18.
The Brad Underwood File
Brad Underwood is coaching his ninth season at the Division I level, including the fifth at Illinois.
Underwood has a record of 209-95 at Stephen F. Austin, Oklahoma State and Illinois. At Illinois, he is 100-68, including 55-44 in Big 10 play.
Underwood has advanced to the NCAA Tournament in each of his three stops. His NCAA Tournament record is 3-4.
Illinois starters
PG Skyy Clark, 6-3, freshman (8.1 points, 3.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists)
SG Terrence Shannon, 6-6, senior (19.8 points, 6.4 rebounds, 3.5 assists, 0.9 steals)
SG RJ Melendez, 6-7, sophomore (9.3 points, 3.5 rebounds, 1.6 steals)
F Matthew Mayer, 6-9, senior (5.6 points, 4.0 rebounds, 1.4 blocks)
PF Coleman Hawkins, 6-10, junior (10.1 points, 6.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.4 blocks)
Key reserves
PF Dain Dainja, 6-9, senior (11.1 points, 6.1 rebounds, 1.3 blockss)
G Jayden Epps, 6-2, freshman (9.9 points, 1.6 rebounds, 1.4 assists)
SG Sincere Harris, 6-4, freshman (4.4 points, 0.9 rebounds)
F Ty Rodgers, 6-6, freshman (1.8 points, 2.9 rebounds)
Texas starters
PG Tyrese Hunter, 6-1, sophomore (16.0 points, 3.7 rebounds, 1.7 assists)
CG Marcus Carr, 6-2, super senior (15.5 points, 2.7 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 2.0 steals)
F Timmy Allen, 6-6, super senior (6.3 points, 6.7 rebounds, 2.7 assists)
F Dillon Mitchell, 6-8, freshman (8.2 points, 6.2 rebounds)
PF Dylan Disu, 6-9, senior (8.3 points, 4.2 rebounds, 1.7 blocks)
The reserves
SG Sir’Jabari Rice, 6-4, super senior (10.3 points, 4.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists)
PF Christian Bishop, 6-7, super senior (4.5 points, 2.3 rebounds and 1.2 blocks)
CG Arterio Morris, 6-3, freshman (5.8 points, 2.3 rebounds, 1.0 assists)
F Brock Cunningham, 6-6, senior (3.3 points, 3.0 rebounds, 1.2 steals)
PF Alex Anamekwe, 6-5.5, freshman (1.4 points, 1.0 rebounds)
SG Gavin Perryman, 6-1, redshirt freshman (Logged 23 minutes through six games)
