Exhibition preview Illinois at Cincinnati; 4 p.m., Saturday
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Oct. 17—Lineups
Illinois
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Starters
P Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown
G Stefan Vaaks So. 6-7 15.8 Tabasalu, Estonia
G Quentin Coleman Fr. 6-4 23.1 O'Fallon
G Andrej Stojakovic Sr. 6-7 13.5 Thessaloniki, Greece
F/C Zvonimir Ivisic 5th 7-2 6.4 Vodice, Croatia
C Tomislav Ivisic 5th 7-1 10.4 Vodice, Croatia
➜ FYI: While sophomore forward David Mirkovic has been ruled out for Illinois' exhibition opener, Jake Davis' availability will be a game-time decision. The senior forward, who started 22 of 37 games for the Illini last season, suffered an ankle injury in a recent practice. Davis averaged 5.4 points and 2.2 rebounds for Illinois during the 2025-26 season and ranked second on the team as a 40.6 percent three-point shooter. Brad Underwood said Friday that Davis is pushing to play, but added he wouldn't expect the McCordsville, Ind., native to be available.
Off the bench
P Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown
G Ethan Brown Fr. 6-4 24.0 Rolla, Mo.
G Lucas Morillo Fr. 6-7 17.4 Mount Vernon, N.Y.
G Lincoln Williams Fr. 6-5 26.0 Kankakee
➜ Note: Scoring averages are from 2025-26 season
Cincinnati
Starters
P Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown
G Elijah Perryman So. 6-2 8.0 San Francisco
G Trevian Carson Sr. 6-3 3.0 West Des Moines, Iowa
G MJ Collins 5th 6-4 0.0 Clover, S.C.
F Tyler Tejada Sr. 6-9 17.0 Teaneck, N.J.
F Jayden Hastings Sr. 6-10 16.0 Orlando, Fla.
➜ FYI: Collins did not play in Cincinnati's 79-68 exhibition win against Ohio State on Oct. 7 because he wasn't eligible. Now he is following an executive order from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine making all Class of 2022 athletes eligible for a fifth season — a move supported by the Ohio State Supreme Court staying a decision from the Ohio Court of Appeals that ruled Collins and many others ineligible. Collins, who followed new Cincinnati coach Jerrod Calhoun from Utah State and also played at Vanderbilt and Virginia Tech, averaged 17.5 points on 49/36/81 shooting last season for the Mountain West Conference champion Aggies.
Off the bench
P Name Yr. Ht. PPG Hometown
G Tylen Riley Sr. 6-3 23.0 Las Vegas
G Eric Mahaffey Jr. 6-6 0.0 Cincinnati
F Adlan Elamin So. 6-10 5.0 Arlington, Va.
➜ Note: Scoring averages are from Cincinnati's first exhibition game against Ohio State on Oct. 7.
Details
➜ Site: Fifth Third Arena (12,012); Cincinnati.
➜ Series: Illinois leads regular season series 3-2.
➜ Last meeting: Cincinnati won 71-51 on Nov. 22, 2021, in Kansas City, Mo.
➜ FYI: Illinois and Cincinnati actually played twice in 2004, with the Illini winning 92-68 on March 21, 2004, in Columbus, Ohio, in the second round of the NCAA tournament and again nine months later with a 67-45 victory on Dec. 31, 2004, in Las Vegas. Deron Williams was the leading scorer in both games, dropping 31 points on 10 of 13 shooting in the NCAA tournament and 18 in Las Vegas.
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Underwood's team hitting the road for a reason
Illinois playing its first of three exhibition games on the road wasn't a quirk of the schedule. Brad Underwood wanted his team to get away from home for a reason. Scheduling the 233-mile trip to Cincinnati was purposeful and centered around the fact the Illini's first two regular-season games against power-conference opponents will be true road games at Texas Tech and Duke.
"We needed a really, really quality opponent on the road, and this group needs to learn how to tackle the road," Underwood said. "We're not very in-depth with scouting in this game intentionally. I want to see how we react to situations and what our principles are, but they need to understand what it looks like and what our routine is on the road. I don't want the first one to be at Texas Tech. It's a great, great test for us."
Bearcats already have one under their belt
Cincinnati played Ohio State in the CareSource Invitational on Oct. 7 in Mason, Ohio. Not that it was a typical exhibition. The Bearcats and Buckeyes — and then Xavier and Dayton — played outside at the Linder Family Tennis Center. Cincinnati beat Ohio State after finding its shooting stroke in the second half in the atypical basketball environment of sunlight, shadows and wind.
"They have personnel that allows them to be a pretty good shooting team, and they didn't shoot it well in that," Underwood said. The Bearcats shot 34 percent in the first half and 65 percent in the second. "I'm sure it was a different dynamic being outside, but you saw their defensive intensity and their ability to turn teams over. It was a game that had a couple of big lead swings and changes, but I thought you saw their experience at the end."
Expectations for the Illini's exhibition opener
Underwood intends to treat Saturday's exhibition like an NBA preseason game, which means getting everyone some playing time. There will be more minutes available, of course, with preseason All-American David Mirkovic ruled out while he returns from foot surgery and Jake Davis not expected to play after his ankle injury. That Illinois will have two more exhibitions after Saturday — Oct. 23 against Baylor and Oct. 28 against Illinois-Chicago — sits well with Underwood.
"I'm a big fan of it," the Illinois coach said of the rule change that allowed a third exhibition. "We're always trying to win when we step on the floor and play harder than our opponent, but it's about getting guys to grow up, getting guys to understand what it looks like. ... I want to see how we execute against a team that's very athletic, very handsy. See what it just looks like. I don't know yet. I'm going in as blind as anybody on certain things."
The News-Gazette's pick
Illinois 88, Cincinnati 84
Illinois should still have the advantage even a bit shorthanded without David Mirkovic and (likely) Jake Davis, but don't be surprised if the Bearcats manage to knock off a second straight Big Ten opponent. Down two rotation regulars means more minutes for the Illini freshmen, who will be making their college basketball debuts on Saturday in an unfamiliar environment.