CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Illinois fended off a late Badger rally to secure its first Big Ten win of the season with an 86-80 victory over No. 20 Wisconsin at State Farm Center on Tuesday night.
The Fighting Illini recorded their second ranked triumph of the year to move to 6-0 at home during the 2024-25 campaign.
Kasparas Jakucionis registered a game-high and career-most 24 points, his fourth-consecutive outing with at least 20 points. Shooting 8-for-15 from the field and 4-for-8 from beyond the arc, Jakucionis totaled six rebounds, five assists, and one steal.
Tre White tallied a season-best 23 points after amassing 14 points in the first half. Going 6-for-8 from the field, 2-3 from 3-point range, and 9-for-10 from the free-throw line, White finished with eight rebounds, including four on the offensive glass, and a block.
Kylan Boswell posted a season-most 19 points, and he accumulated six assists, four rebounds, and two steals.
Tomislav Ivisic recorded nine points and grabbed 11 rebounds, his fourth-straight game with double-digit boards.
The Badgers tallied the game's first four points, but a 9-0 Illini run gave the hosts their first lead of the night. White's 3-pointer started that stretch before a triple from Boswell put the hosts in front for the first time. White's and-1 layup closed out the run, which spanned just over two minutes of game time and put the home side ahead, 9-4.
Wisconsin retook the lead and extended its advantage to five, but a 12-4 run from the Orange and Blue put Illinois back in front. Boswell accounted for five points and Jakucionis buried his first 3-pointer of the night during that stretch to help the Illini establish a 28-25 edge with five minutes remaining in the first half.
After the visitors tied the game at 28, Jakucionis knocked down his second triple to put the Illini right back in front. Less than one minute later, Illinois started to string together an 8-2 run, which was kickstarted by an and-1 layup from White, who also closed out the 90-second scoring stretch with his second trey of the day.
The Illini went into halftime with a 39-35 lead, with White and Jakucionis both reached double figures through the opening 20 minutes.
Illinois' advantage grew to seven within the first minute of the second half, but a 12-4 run from the Badgers gave the visitors a 47-46 edge with 16:32 remaining.
The Orange and Blue found another quick response, though. Boswell scored the game's next five points, which saw him move into double figures and put the Illini back in front, to begin a 13-2 run for the hosts. Jakucionis tallied the final five points of that stretch, including a corner three to extend the team's lead to 59-49 with 12:43 to go.
The Badgers battled back with a 6-0 run to cut their deficit to 63-59, but three free throws from White pushed the Illini's edge back up to seven.
With Illinois' lead down to 66-60, Jakucionis made his fourth 3-pointer of the night while also getting fouled, and his 4-point play extended the hosts' advantage back to double digits, 70-60, with 6:08 to play.
A 7-2 Wisconsin run cut the away side's deficit in half, but dunks from Ivisic and White on back-to-back possessions gave the Illini a 76-70 lead with 2:21 remaining in the contest. Fouled on a 3-point attempt with 1:23 to go, Jakucionis made all three free throws to push Illinois' edge up to 79-70.
The Badgers stormed back to cut the Illini's lead to four with less than 30 seconds left, but the Illini made their free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.
Illinois (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten) closes its two-game home swing on Saturday evening against No. 1 Tennessee at sold-out State Farm Center for the program's annual Stripe State Farm contest. Tipoff between the Fighting Illini and the top-ranked Volunteers is set for 4:30 p.m. CT on FOX.
HIGHLIGHTS
PRESS CONFERENCE
POSTGAME NOTES
Player Notes:
- Kasparas Jakucionis scored a career-high 24 points to go along with six rebounds and five assists.
- Was his third game this season with at least 20 points, six rebounds and five assists…leads all Big Ten freshmen.
- Have only been five such games by Big Ten freshmen this season (Dylan Harper (Rutgers) and Derik Queen (Maryland) each have 1 such game).
- Turned in his fourth-straight 20-point performance.
- Has scored in double figures in four-straight and in seven games overall.
- Reached double digits with 1:54 left in the first half.
- Extends his Illinois freshman record as the only rookie in program history with four-consecutive 20-point games.
- Joins Trae Young (Jan. 3-13, 2018) as only the second NCAA Division I freshman in the last 10 seasons with a four-game stretch of 80+ points, 25+ rebounds, 20+ assists, and 15+ 3-pointers made.
- Has made multiple 3-pointers in each of the last four games.
- Has made at least three 3-pointers in three of his last four games.
- Has registered at least three assists in all eight games this season.
- Has tallied at least five assists in six games.
- Has grabbed at least six rebounds in five-straight games and seven times this season.
- Tre White scored a season-high 23 points and added eight rebounds and an assist.
- First 20-point performance of the season.
- Reached double figures in points with 2:22 left in the first half and was also the first player in the contest to reach that mark.
- Has scored in double figures in three games this season.
- Scored a game-high 14 points in the first half, going 5-for-6 from the floor, including 2-for-3 from the 3-point line.
- Third game this season with at least eight boards.
- Kylan Boswell scored 19 points while totaling four rebounds and six assists.
- Recorded double-digit points for the fourth time this season and for the second time in his last three games.
- Equaled his season-best tally with two 3-pointers.
- Knocked down multiple 3-pointers for the third time this season.
- Third game this season with at least six assists.
- Tomislav Ivisic scored nine points and secured 11 rebounds.
- Has grabbed double-digit rebounds in four-straight games and in six contests overall.
Team Notes:
- Brad Underwood now has 150 wins in his Illini career, fifth-most all-time in program history.
- Is now just one win shy of tying for fourth place.
- The Illini improve to 70-32 (.686) in Big Ten play since the 2019-20 season, the winningest mark in the league during that span.
- Illinois has now won nine-straight over Wisconsin, its second-longest in the series, trailing only a 16-game win streak from 1981-89.
- Underwood is now 9-4 against Wisconsin in his Illinois career.
- Starting lineup: Kylan Boswell, Ben Humrichous, Tomislav Ivisic, Kasparas Jakucionis, Tre White
- Illinois out-rebounded Wisconsin, 40-29, with a 25-18 advantage on the defensive end and a 15-11 edge on the offensive glass.
- Out-rebounded the Badgers 22-10 in the first half, including a 9-1 advantage on the offensive glass.
- Held Wisconsin to zero second-chance points in the first half while scoring nine.
- Converted its 15 o-boards into 16 second-chance points.
- The Illini have won the battle on the boards in all nine games this season.
- The Illini made 22-of-25 shots from the charity stripe (88%) compared to the Badgers 14-of-21 (67%).
- Third game this season with at least 20 makes from the foul line.
- Illinois has now made at least 10 3-pointers in seven games this season after knocking down 10 tonight.
- Tied for the most such games in the Big Ten.
- Illinois assisted 15 times on 27 field goals.
- Sixth time this season assisting on over 50% of its field goals…have done so in four-straight contests.
- Tonight's attendance was 15,544, marking the second sellout of the season.
