BLOOMINGTON, Ill. – The Illinois Wesleyan men's basketball team will play an exhibition game against Division I University of Illinois on Friday, Nov. 2, at Champaign's State Farm Center. The game time will be determined at a later date and tickets will be handled by the University of Illinois Athletic Department.

Last season, Illinois Wesleyan finished with a 19-8 overall record and went 12-4 as co-champions of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin. The Titans returned to the NCAA Division III tournament for the first time since the 2015-16 season, losing to The College of Wooster in round one, 72-68.
The top five scorers from last season return for the Titans, led by senior guards Brady Rose (21.4 points per game) and Colin Bonnett (12.3 points per game) and junior center Alex O'Neill (9.2 points, 5.5 rebounds per game).

"We appreciate Coach [Brad] Underwood for giving us this great opportunity for our players to be in a game against a major college opponent in an exciting, big-time environment," said IWU head coach Ron Rose, whose team opens its regular season on Sunday, Nov. 11 against the University of Chicago. "A game like this gives us a chance to prepare for our challenging non-conference schedule." Go here to see the entire IWU men's basketball schedule.

The Illini were 14-18 overall and 4-14 in the Big 10 Conference under first-year head coach Brad Underwood. The top returners for Illinois include sophomore guard Trent Frazier (12.5 points per game) and junior forward Kipper Nichols (10.0 points per game). It will be the first game for Illinois graduate transfer Adonis De La Rosa, junior college transfer Andres Feliz and freshmen Ayo Dosunmu, Tevian Jones, Alan Griffin, Giorgi Bezhanishvili, Samba Kane and Anthony Higgs.

The Titans and Illini last met in an exhibition game on Nov. 3, 2005, at the Assembly Hall in a game won by Illinois, 82-60. IWU trailed by only one at 45-44 with 13:23 to play before the Illini went on a 10-point run to grab a 55-44 lead with 10:25 left.

Prior to that game, the schools had not met since the 1933-34 season. Illinois has a 6-0 record against IWU in intercollegiate varsity games.
 

DATE	SCORE	LOCATION
January 5, 1912	Illinois 44, Illinois Wesleyan 12	Champaign, Ill.
December 30, 1912	Illinois 18, Illinois Wesleyan 13	Champaign, Ill.
December 12, 1914	Illinois 50, Illinois Wesleyan 39	Champaign, Ill.
January 1, 1916	Illinois 25, Illinois Wesleyan 18	Bloomington, Ill.
December 16, 1921	Illinois 35, Illinois Wesleyan 19	Champaign, Ill.
December 16, 1933	Illinois 39, Illinois Wesleyan 19	Champaign, Ill.