Brad Underwood Richmond Family Endowed Men’s Head Basketball Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
Brad Underwood Richmond Family Endowed Men’s Head Basketball Coach | University of Illinois Division of Intercollegiate Athletics Website
No. 8 Illinois will face No. 11 Alabama in a men’s basketball game at the United Center in Chicago on Wednesday, November 19, 2025, at 8 p.m. CT. The matchup brings together two top-15 teams and marks Illinois’ first regular season game at the United Center since December 2018.
Illinois has played 56 games at the United Center since the 1994-95 season and holds a record of 38-18 (.679) there. This contest is also their first non-conference regular season game at this venue since December 2017.
The Illini have moved up six spots to No. 8 in both the AP Top 25 and coaches poll this week, their highest November ranking since reaching No. 5 on November 30, 2020. Under head coach Brad Underwood, Illinois has been ranked in the AP Top 25 for seven consecutive seasons.
Head coach Brad Underwood said: “Illinois has 28 victories over ranked opponents since the start of the 2019-20 season, ninth-most nationally.” He added that Illinois earned its first ranked win this season by defeating No.11 Texas Tech last Tuesday.
Freshman David Mirkovic delivered a notable performance with a double-double of 27 points and 21 rebounds against Colgate on November 14, breaking an Illinois freshman rebounding record and becoming only the second player nationally to average more than eighteen points and twelve rebounds per game through at least three contests this year.
Andrej Stojakovic (23 points) and Kylan Boswell (22 points) led Illinois in their victory over Texas Tech on November 11. Stojakovic contributed three steals and two blocks, including one that stopped Texas Tech’s attempt to tie late in the game. Boswell surpassed one thousand career points during that match.
Illinois is off to a four-win start for just the third time under Coach Underwood and leads the Big Ten in rebound margin (+21.8), total rebounds per game (48.8), scoring margin (+31), as well as fewest fouls per game (11.3). These statistics rank among national leaders according to kenpom.com ratings; Illinois currently stands sixth overall with top offensive and defensive metrics.
Wednesday’s meeting will be only the sixth between these programs; Alabama leads the series four games to one and won last year’s matchup in Birmingham by a score of one hundred to eighty-seven.
Coach Underwood commented: “Expectations are high once again in Champaign, with the Illini returning three starters from last year's team that won twenty-two games, advanced to the NCAA Round of Thirty-Two, and finished ranked seventeenth in kenpom.”
Alabama enters with a two-and-one record after losing to then-No.2 Purdue last Thursday. The Crimson Tide are scheduled for several other games against common opponents with Illinois later this season.
Historically, when ranked inside the AP top ten—something achieved for only the first time since finishing sixth nationally last season—Illinois has compiled a .753 winning percentage across four hundred thirty-four games.
Under Coach Underwood's leadership since taking over nine years ago, Illinois has become known for high-scoring offenses; they averaged eighty-three point six points per game last year—their highest output since nineteen ninety-four—and have started this season averaging ninety-seven point seven points per contest through four games.
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