| 1 | Tue Nov 5 | vs Nicholls | W78-70 (OT) | 1-0 | 1.000 | - | | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 2 | Fri Nov 8 | atGrand Canyon | W83-71 | 2-0 | 1.000 | - | | GCU Arena · Phoenix, AZ |
| 3 | Sun Nov 10 | at21Arizona | L69-90 | 2-1 | .667 | - | PACN | McKale Center · Tucson, AZ |
| 4 | Mon Nov 18 | vsHawai'i | W66-53 | 3-1 | .750 | - | ESPNU | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 5 | Wed Nov 20 | vsThe Citadel | W85-57 | 4-1 | .800 | - | BTN | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 6 | Sat Nov 23 | vsHampton | W120-71 | 5-1 | .833 | - | | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 7 | Tue Nov 26 | vsLindenwood | W117-65 | 6-1 | .857 | - | | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 8 | Mon Dec 2 | vsMiami | L79-81 | 6-2 | .750 | - | ESPN2 | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 9 | Sat Dec 7 | at3Maryland | L58-59 | 6-3 | .667 | - | ESPN2 | XFINITY Center · College Park, MD |
| 10 | Wed Dec 11 | vs5Michigan | W71-62 | 7-3 | .700 | - | BTN | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 11 | Sat Dec 14 | vsOld Dominion | W69-55 | 8-3 | .727 | - | BTN | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 12 | Sat Dec 21 | atMissouri | L56-63 | 8-4 | .667 | - | SEC Network | Enterprise Center · St. Louis, MO |
| 13 | Sun Dec 29 | vsNC A&T | W95-64 | 9-4 | .692 | - | ESPNU | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 14 | Thu Jan 2 | at14Michigan St | L56-76 | 9-5 | .643 | - | FS1 | Breslin Center · East Lansing, MI |
| 15 | Sun Jan 5 | vsPurdue | W63-37 | 10-5 | .667 | - | FS1 | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 16 | Wed Jan 8 | atWisconsin | W71-70 | 11-5 | .688 | - | BTN | Kohl Center · Madison, WI |
| 17 | Sat Jan 11 | vsRutgers | W54-51 | 12-5 | .706 | - | BTN | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 18 | Sat Jan 18 | vsNorthwestern | W75-71 | 13-5 | .722 | #24 | BTN | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 19 | Tue Jan 21 | atPurdue | W79-62 | 14-5 | .737 | #21 | ESPNU | Mackey Arena · West Lafayette, IN |
| 20 | Sat Jan 25 | atMichigan | W64-62 | 15-5 | .750 | #21 | FS1 | Crisler Center · Ann Arbor, MI |
| 21 | Thu Jan 30 | vsMinnesota | W59-51 | 16-5 | .762 | #19 | FS1 | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 22 | Sun Feb 2 | at18Iowa | L65-72 | 16-6 | .727 | #19 | FS1 | Carver-Hawkeye Arena · Iowa City, IA |
| 23 | Fri Feb 7 | vs9Maryland | L66-75 | 16-7 | .696 | #20 | FS1 | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 24 | Tue Feb 11 | vsMichigan St | L69-70 | 16-8 | .667 | #22 | ESPN | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 25 | Sat Feb 15 | atRutgers | L57-72 | 16-9 | .640 | #22 | BTN | Jersey Mike’s Arena · Piscataway, NJ |
| 26 | Tue Feb 18 | at9Penn State | W62-56 | 17-9 | .654 | - | FS1 | Bryce Jordan Center · University Park, PA |
| 27 | Mon Feb 24 | vsNebraska | W71-59 | 18-9 | .667 | - | BTN | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 28 | Thu Feb 27 | atNorthwestern | W74-66 | 19-9 | .679 | - | BTN | Welsh-Ryan Arena · Evanston, IL |
| 29 | Sun Mar 1 | vsIndiana | W67-66 | 20-9 | .690 | - | BTN | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
| 30 | Thu Mar 5 | at19Ohio State | L63-71 | 20-10 | .667 | #23 | ESPN | Value City Arena · Columbus, OH |
| 31 | Sun Mar 8 | vs18Iowa | W78-76 | 21-10 | .677 | #23 | BTN | State Farm Center · Champaign, IL |
