Champaign – Anyone who talks to Illinois head coach Brad Underwood about minutes knows he’s not fond of the conversation.

He typically begins with something along the lines of “players are going to get the same amount of playing time whether they start or come off the bench.”

Still, Underwood keeps a keen eye on his bench, making sure he gets something positive out of the group.

“You guys know me by now that I’m as concerned with the bench as I am with who starts, making sure we got productivity off the bench and that there’s not a lot of slippage,” Underwood said.

And while there’s been “slippage” at times, Illinois has put together an effective second unit over the last five games.

The Illini bench outscored their counterparts 139-86 during that stretch and on average score roughly 10 more points than the opponent’s bench per game.

“With our system, denying and stuff like that, people are going to get tired. (We’ve provided) energy so the starters can rest,” guard Andres Feliz said. “At the same time, we help them produce more and are also there giving it up for the team. Playing hard and just being there.”