Minnesota, No. 13 Illinois start Big Ten play

Minnesota (6-0, 0-0) vs. No. 13 Illinois (4-2, 0-0)

State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois; Tuesday, 7 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: Minnesota and No. 13 Illinois meet in the first Big Ten game of the season for both teams. In conference play last season, Minnesota finished with eight wins and 12 losses, while Illinois won 13 games and lost seven.

STEPPING UP: Illinois' Ayo Dosunmu has averaged 24.8 points, 7.7 rebounds and 5.2 assists while Kofi Cockburn has put up 14 points and 8.8 rebounds. For the Golden Gophers, Marcus Carr has averaged 23.8 points and 6.2 assists while Both Gach has put up 15.3 points and 6.2 rebounds.

CREATING OFFENSE: Carr has either made or assisted on 53 percent of all Minnesota field goals over the last five games. Carr has accounted for 37 field goals and 33 assists in those games.

STREAK STATS: Illinois has won its last three home games, scoring an average of 98.7 points while giving up 57.7.

ASSIST RATIOS: The Golden Gophers have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Illini. Illinois has 39 assists on 84 field goals (46.4 percent) across its previous three outings while Minnesota has assists on 53 of 80 field goals (66.3 percent) during its past three games.

DID YOU KNOW: The Minnesota offense has recorded a turnover on only 14.7 percent of its possessions, which is the 27th-best rate in the nation. The Illinois defense has forced opposing teams to turn the ball over on just 16.2 percent of all possessions (ranked 284th among Division I teams).

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