No. 16 seed Drexel (12-7) vs. No. 1 seed Illinois (23-6)
NCAA Tournament First Round, Indiana Farmers Coliseum, Indianapolis; Friday, 12:15 p.m. EDT
BOTTOM LINE: Drexel and Illinois are set to clash in the First Round of the NCAA Tournament. Illinois earned a 91-88 overtime win over Ohio State on Sunday, while Drexel won 63-56 against Elon on March 3.
TEAM LEADERS: Illinois’ Ayo Dosunmu has averaged 19.2 points, 5.9 rebounds and five assists while Kofi Cockburn has put up 17.6 points and 9.6 rebounds. For the Dragons, Camren Wynter has averaged 16.8 points and 5.3 assists while James Butler has put up 12.9 points and 9.2 rebounds.
OFFENSIVE THREAT: Dosunmu has directly created 42 percent of all Illinois field goals over the last three games. The junior guard has 20 field goals and 19 assists in those games.
WINNING WHEN: Drexel is a perfect 5-0 when the team makes nine or more 3-pointers. The Dragons are 7-7 when the team hits fewer than nine threes.
ASSIST DISTRIBUTION: The Illini have recently gotten buckets via assists more often than the Dragons. Illinois has 53 assists on 93 field goals (57 percent) across its previous three games while Drexel has assists on 39 of 78 field goals (50 percent) during its past three games.
FREQUENTLY FOULED: Illinois has attempted the 13th-most free throws in the country at 23.1 per game. Drexel has gotten to the line far less frequently and is averaging only 15.6 foul shots per game (ranked 256th).
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