College basketball rankings: Andrej Stojakovic leads Illinois to bounce-back victory after loss to Alabama
The Illini are 5-1 after their win vs. Long Island on Saturday
By
Gary Parrish
•
1 min read
Brad Underwood's pivot to largely recruiting internationally at Illinois has received a lot of attention in recent months thanks to names on his roster like Andrej Stojakovic, Mhihalo Petrovic, Zvonimir Ivisic, Tomislav Ivisic and David Mirkovic. It's inspired funny memes and deep discussions about whether there's something broken in the developmental system here in the United States considering one of the Big Ten's best coaches, at one of the Big Ten's best programs, has decided it's just smarter for him, for a variety of reasons, to build his team around Eastern Europeans.
But that's a discussion for another day.
On this day, I'm just here to tell you that the Illini bounced back from their midweek loss to Alabama with a 98-58 victory over Long Island -- and, yes, the international players played a big role. Stojakovic, born in Greece, led all scorers with 20 points. Mirkovic, born in Montenegro, added 12. The Ivisic brothers are from Croatia. One of them (Tomislav) got nine points and four rebounds, the other (Zvonimir) got eight points and four rebounds. Petrovic, born in Serbia, provided four points and a steal.
With the win, Illinois is now 5-1 with one more buy game on the schedule -- Monday against UT Rio Grande Valley -- before things intensify. On Friday, the Illini will play UConn. Eight days after that, they'll play Tennessee. After that, they'll open the Big Ten portion of their schedule with games against Ohio State and Nebraska before playing Missouri in a neutral-site game in St. Louis. Add it up, and it's a five-game stretch against teams currently ranked in the top 40 at KenPom.com.
The Illini are 14th in Sunday morning's updated CBS Sports Top 25 And 1 dally college basketball rankings, where Arizona remains No. 1 for the fourth consecutive day. Why is Arizona No. 1? Because Tommy Lloyd's Wildcats are 5-0 with three wins over other teams in the Top 25 And 1 -- specifically victories over No. 4 Uconn, No. 6 Florida and No. 15 UCLA. Nobody can match that body of work, even if, as I explained Saturday, I do expect Purdue to remain No. 1 in the Associated Press Top 25 poll when it updates Monday, which, as I explained Saturday, is perfectly reasonable even if it doesn't line up with the Top 25 And 1.
Top 25 And 1 rankings
Biggest Movers
Rk | Teams | Chg | Rcrd | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  | Jaden Bradley finished with 21 points and three rebounds in Tuesday's 71-67 win at UConn. The Wildcats' next game is Monday against Denver. | -- | 7-0 |
| 2 |  | Oscar Cluff finished with 15 points and 15 rebounds in Friday's 86-56 win over Texas Tech. The Boilermakers' next game is Friday against Eastern Illinois. | -- | 8-0 |
| 3 |  | Kingston Flemings finished with 18 points and five assists in Thursday's 91-45 win over Rider. The Cougars' next game is Monday against Syracuse. | -- | 7-1 |
| 4 |  | Solo Ball missed nine of the 14 shots he attempted in Wednesday's 71-67 loss to Arizona. The Huskies' next game is Sunday against Bryant. | -- | 7-1 |
| 5 |  | Richie Saunders finished with 26 points and three rebounds in Friday's 98-70 win over Wisconsin. The Cougars' next game is Thursday against Miami. | -- | 7-1 |
| 6 |  | Alex Condon finished with 20 points and 11 rebounds in Friday's 80-45 win over Merrimack. The Gators' next game is Thursday against TCU. | -- | 5-3 |
| 7 |  | Yaxel Lendeborg finished with 25 points and 12 rebounds in Wednesday's 86-61 win over Middle Tennessee. The Wolverines' next game is Monday against San Diego State. | -- | 7-0 |
| 8 |  | Patrick Ngongba finished with 17 points and eight rebounds in Friday's 100-42 win over Niagara. The Blue Devils' next game is Sunday against Howard. | -- | 9-0 |
| 9 |  | Ryan Conwell finished with 25 points and five rebounds in Friday's 74-64 win over Cincinnati. The Cardinals' next game is Monday against Eastern Michigan. | -- | 7-1 |
| 10 |  | Labaron Philon finished with 24 points and five assists in Wednesday's 90-86 win over Illinois. The Crimson Tide's next game is Monday against Gonzaga. | -- | 6-2 |
| 11 |  | Dillon Mitchell finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds in Thursday's 97-49 win over Bucknell. The Red Storm's next game is Monday against Iowa State. | -- | 4-3 |
| 12 |  | Tamin Lipsey finished with 23 points and six rebounds in Monday's 96-57 win over Stonehill. The Cyclones' next game is Monday against St. John's. | -- | 8-0 |
| 13 |  | Braden Huff finished with 22 points and six rebounds in Monday's 122-50 win over Southern Utah. The Zags' next game is Monday against Alabama. | -- | 7-1 |
| 14 |  | Andrej Stojakovicfinished with 20 points and four rebounds in Saturday's 98-58 win over Long Island. The Illini's next game is Monday against UT Rio Grande Valley. | -- | 6-2 |
| 15 |  | Skyy Clark finished with 22 points and two steals in Friday's 86-46 sin over Presbyterian. The Bruins' next game is Tuesday against Cal. Skyy Clark was 3 of 11 from the field on Friday's 69-65 loss to Arizona. The Bruins' next game is Tuesday against Sacramento State. | -- | 6-2 |
| 16 |  | Jeremy Fears finished with 18 points and 11 assists in Friday's 84-56 win over Detroit Mercy. The Spartans' next game is Tuesday against East Carolina. | -- | 8-0 |
| 17 |  | Jaylen Petty missed eight of the 10 shots he attempted in Friday's 86-56 loss to Purdue. The Red Raiders' next game is Wednesday against New Orleans. | -- | 6-2 |
| 18 |  | Nate Bittle finished with 24 points and seven rebounds in Monday's 87-75 win over Oregon State. The Ducks' next game is Monday against Auburn. | -- | 4-4 |
| 19 |  | DJ Wagner finished with 17 points and seven assists in Friday's 115-61 win over Jackson State. The Razorbacks' next game is Thursday against Duke. | -- | 6-2 |
| 20 |  | Caleb Wilson finished with 23 points and 12 rebounds in Tuesday's 73-61 win over Navy. The Tar Heels' next game is Tuesday against St. Bonaventure. | -- | 7-1 |
| 21 |  | Kam Williams finished with 13 points and nine rebounds in Friday's 88-46 win over Loyola Maryland. The Wildcats' next game is Wednesday against Tennessee Tech. | -- | 5-3 |
| 22 |  | Ja'Kobi Gillespie finished with 17 points and five assists in Thursday's 89-60 win over Tennessee State. The Vols' next game is Monday against Rutgers. | -- | 7-2 |
| 23 |  | KeShawn Murphy finished with 19 points and seven rebounds in Wednesday's 112-66 win over Jackson State. The Tigers' next game is Monday against Oregon. | -- | 7-2 |
| 24 |  | AJ Storr finished with 14 points and two steals in Friday's 82-60 win over Cal State Bakersfield. The Rebels' next game is Tuesday against Austin Peay. | -- | 5-3 |
| 25 |  | Bryson Tiller missed six of the eight shots he attempted in Tuesday's 78-66 loss to Duke. The Jayhawks' next game is Monday against Notre Dame. | -- | 6-3 |
| 26 |  | Pryce Sandfort finished with 21 points and three rebounds in Friday's 86-85 win over Kansas State. The Cornhuskers' next game is Tuesday against Winthrop. | -- | 8-0 |
