Old Dominion @ Illinois preview

Illinois knocked on the door of a confidence-building Big Ten victory before pushing it in last time out and looks to avoid losing the momentum when it hosts Old Dominion for a non-conference contest Saturday night. The Illini lost by two against Miami (Fla.) of the ACC before coming up short in a 59-58 loss to No. 4 Maryland last Saturday, but broke through by holding off seventh-ranked Michigan 71-62 on Wednesday.

“I’m really proud of my team, my guys,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood told reporters. “As difficult as Saturday was (against Maryland), they proved they can handle themselves. This was Big Ten basketball at its finest. It was a good game, a real smash-mouth basketball game.” Kofi Cockburn, a 7-0 freshman center from Jamaica, recorded his sixth double-double with 19 points and 10 rebounds to go along with four blocks in Wednesday’s win for the Illini, and is shooting 59 percent from the field. Illinois has won all six of its games against mid-majors or non-Division I teams and looks to keep that record intact when it takes on Old Dominion, which has lost six straight after starting the season 3-1. The Monarchs have struggled offensively, scoring just 61.8 points per game on 39.3 percent shooting after losing 69-57 against VCU in their last game on Dec. 7.

TV: 6 p.m. ET, Big Ten Network

ABOUT OLD DOMINION (3-7): Xavier Green leads the Monarchs in scoring (14.6) despite shooting just 38.1 percent from the field and fellow junior guard Malik Curry adds 10.6 per game along with a team-best 3.3 assists. Sophomore guard Jason Wade chips in 9.8 points per contest on 56.2 percent shooting from the floor and a team-high 3.2 steals while junior guard Marquis Godwin has a team-best 21 makes from 3-point range. Senior forward Aaron Carver is the team’s top rebounder (9.5), but finished with a season-low five against VCU.

ABOUT ILLINOIS (7-3): Cockburn leads the team in scoring (15.8) and rebounds (10.6) while four other Illini players average in double figures scoring for a team shooting 49.6 percent from the field. Sophomore guard Ayo Dosunmu (14.9 points) grabbed a season-high eight rebounds versus Michigan and senior guard Andres Feliz (14.2) tops the team in assists (3.7) and connects on 53.8 percent from the floor. Junior guard Trent Frazier (10.3) and sophomore forward Giorgi Bezhanishvili (10.0) also contribute to the balanced offense.

TIP-INS

1. Illinois has made just 51 shots from 3-point range - tied for 291st in the country entering Saturday - and Old Dominion is 49-for-176.

2. Old Dominion junior F Dajour Dickens registered his first career double-double against VCU last Saturday with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

3. The Illini won the only other previous meeting 80-62 at the San Juan Shootout in Puerto Rico in 1990.

PREDICTION: Illinois 82, Old Dominion 60