2021–22 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team

2021–22 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball
NCAA tournament, Second Round
ConferenceBig Ten Conference
Ranking
CoachesNo. 19
APNo. 19
Record23–10 (15–5 Big Ten)
Head coach
Assistant coaches
  • Chester Frazier (1st season)
  • Tim Anderson (1st season)
  • Geoff Alexander (1st season)
Offensive schemeSpread
Base defenseOn-the-Line-Up-the-Line, Man
Captains
  • Kofi Cockburn
  • Trent Frazier
Home arenaState Farm Center
2021–22 Big Ten Conference
men's basketball standings
Conf. Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 19 Illinois 15 5   .750 23 10   .697
No. 14 Wisconsin 15 5   .750 25 8   .758
No. 10 Purdue 14 6   .700 29 8   .784
Rutgers 12 8   .600 18 14   .563
No. 16 Iowa 12 8   .600 26 10   .722
Ohio State 12 8   .600 20 12   .625
Michigan State 11 9   .550 23 13   .639
Michigan 11 9   .550 19 15   .559
Indiana 9 11   .450 21 14   .600
Maryland 7 13   .350 15 17   .469
Penn State 7 13   .350 14 17   .452
Northwestern 7 13   .350 15 16   .484
Nebraska 4 16   .200 10 22   .313
Minnesota 4 16   .200 13 17   .433
Conference tournament winner
Rankings from AP poll

The 2021–22 Illinois Fighting Illini men's basketball team represented the University of Illinois in the 2021–22 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. Led by fifth-year head coach Brad Underwood, the Illini played their home games at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Illinois as members of the Big Ten Conference. They finished the season 23–10, 15–5 in Big Ten play to finish in a two-way tie for the regular-season championship. As the No. 1 seed in the Big Ten tournament, they were defeated by No. 9 seed Indiana in the Quarterfinals. They received an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 4 seed in the South Region, where they defeated Chattanooga in the First Round before losing to Houston in the Second Round.