Illinois features no less than five players from Slavic nations: leading scorer Andrej Stojakovic, who was born in Greece but whose father is Peja, the Croatian-born former NBA star; David Mirkovic (Montenegro), Tomislav Ivisic (Croatia), Mihailo Petrovic (Serbia) and Znoimir Ivisic (Croatia). The Fighting Illin-ic, anyone?

No. 13 Illinois is a late entry into Big Ten play after a tough nonconference schedule but will take those experiences into the conference opener at Ohio State on Tuesday in Columbus.

As entertaining as it has been to watch the Illinois men's basketball team (2-0) Cirque du Soleil its way through the first two games of the season, flying high, launching – and connecting – from great distances and otherwise displaying tantalizing ...

Scott Richey covers college basketball for The News-Gazette. His email is [email protected], and you can follow him on Twitter ( @srrichey ). Illinois isn't the only team dealing with players missing practices, games, but certainly has its fair share

The No. 14 Hawkeyes conquered it, largely uneventfully, with their 86-69 home win over Western Illinois on Nov. 26. Iowa constructed a double-digit lead toward the end of the first quarter and its cushion rarely dipped below 15 in the second half.

What channel is Illinois basketball vs. UConn today? Here's how to watch, including time, TV schedule, live streaming info and game odds.

The Illini, who haven't competed in an early-season invitational in quite some time, may shift gears if invited to the Royal Palm Invitational