COLUMBUS, Ohio – #13 Illinois opened Big Ten play with a hard-fought 88-80 road victory over Ohio State on Tuesday night.
Keaton Wagler finished with a career-high 23 points, making three 3-pointers while going 8-for-9 from the free throw line. He also dished out five assists, while both of his rebounds came on the offensive glass.
David Mirkovic finished with 22 points while knocking down a career-high four 3-pointers. He corralled nine rebounds while converting all eight of his free throw attempts.
Andrej Stojakovic secured 17 points, four rebounds, and an assist, while Zvonimir Ivisic totaled 13 points, eight rebounds, and a block off the bench.
The Illini went 29-for-32 at the free throw line as a team while recording 11 3-pointers.
After a slow start offensively, the Illini used a stretch of four made field goals across five attempts to establish an early five-point edge. That advantage grew to nine just over three minutes later following back-to-back triples from Zvonimir Ivisic and Mirkovic, who reached double figures within the first eight minutes of play.
The Buckeyes briefly went in front with five minutes remaining in the frame, but an 11-0 Illini run saw the visitors grab a double-digit lead for the first time with two minutes to go in the period.
Up by as many as 10 in the first half, the Orange and Blue eventually went into halftime with a 48-42 advantage. Three Illini scorers posted 10+ points across the opening 20 minutes, led by a team-high 14 points from Wagler, while Illinois shot 53.6% from the field before the break.
With the game tied at 53 early in the second half, the Illini pieced together an 8-2 scoring stretch go ahead once again. The home side ended a scoreless drought of over three minutes before the Orange and Blue claimed the game's next five points to take a 66-58 advantage halfway through the final frame.
Both sides went to the free throw line several times over the next five minutes, though the Illini maintained their advantage by going 7-for-8 from the charity stripe during that time.
A Wagler 3-pointer, his third of the night, ended a three-minute stretch without an Illinois field goal, lengthening the away side's lead to eight with just under three minutes remaining. After Ohio State trimmed its deficit to three with 1:19 to play, Tomislav Ivisic knocked down a 3-pointer, his first points of the second half, which saw the Illini advantage grow to 82-76 with 46 seconds left on the clock.
The Illini eventually closed out the victory from the free throw line to improve to 1-0 in conference play and 8-2 overall.
#13 Illinois returns to State Farm Center on Saturday afternoon to host its Big Ten home opener against #23 Nebraska. The opening tip for the top-25 clash between the Fighting Illini and the Cornhuskers is slated for 3 p.m. CT on Peacock.
HIGHLIGHTS
PRESS CONFERENCE
POSTGAME NOTES
Player Notes
- Keaton Wagler scored 23 points (8-9 FTs) with five assists.
- 23 points marked a career-high.
- His second 20-point game of his career (22 vs. FGCU on Nov. 7).
- Posted his seventh outing this season with 10+ points.
- Dished out a career-high five assists in the second straight game.
- Registered multiple made 3-pointers for the fifth time.
- David Mirkovic recorded 22 points, nine rebounds, and an assist.
- Finished with 20+ points for the second time.
- Scored in double figures for the ninth time this season.
- Has 10+ points in nine of his first 10 games.
- Knocked down a career-high four 3-pointers.
- Made multiple 3-pointers for the fifth time this season.
- Matched career highs for free-throws made and attempted with a perfect 8-for-8 performance from the stripe.
- Andrej Stojakovic secured 17 points, four rebounds, and an assist.
- Finished with double-digit points for the fifth time this season.
- Was a perfect 7-for-7 from the free throw line.
- His makes and attempts were both season-high marks.
- Zvonimir Ivisic registered 13 points, eight rebounds, and a block.
- Marked his fourth game as an Illini in double-figures scoring.
- Now has back-to-back games, five outings on the season overall, with multiple 3-pointers.
- Corralled at least eight rebounds for the third time this season.
- Tomislav Ivisic tallied seven points, two rebounds, two assists, and a block.
- Has a 3-pointer in four consecutive games and in six of his seven appearances overall.
- Kylan Boswell tallied four points and four rebounds.
- Tied his season-best output with three offensive rebounds.
- Grabbed multiple o-boards for the fifth time this season and for the fourth time in the last five games.
- Ben Humrichous added three rebounds, two assists, and a block off the bench.
- At least one block in six of the Illini's last seven games with 11 total rejections during that stretch.
Team Notes
- Starters: Kylan Boswell, Keaton Wagler, Andrej Stojakovic, David Mirkovic, and Tomislav Ivisic
- Illinois improved to 3-2 in Quad 1 matchups this season with wins over Texas Tech, vs. Tennessee, and at Ohio State.
- Illinois improved to 8-2 (1-0 B1G) to match the team's best 10-game start of the Brad Underwood era (2023-24).
- Opened Big Ten play 1-0 for the fourth time in the last six seasons under Underwood.
- Illinois secured it's 82nd Big Ten victory since the start of the 2019-20 season the top mark in the league during that span, tied with Purdue.
- Illinois has a league-leading 35 road wins in Big Ten play since 2019-20. z
- Illinois improved to 113-82 in the all-time series with Ohio State.
- Fourth-most wins against any opponent in program history (145 vs. Northwestern, 131 vs. Minnesota, 119 vs. Wisconsin).
- Illinois has won seven of the last nine matchups in the series.
- Four straight wins over Ohio State are the most since winning five consecutive vs. the Buckeyes between Feb. 9, 2003 and Jan. 5, 2005.
- The Illini earned back-to-back wins in Columbus for the first time since a run of six straight road wins over the Buckeyes between Jan. 30, 1993 and Jan. 28, 1998.
- Illinois has won four straight Big Ten regular-season games dating back to last season, and has four consecutive wins over unranked Big Ten opponents.
- Illinois is now 660-269 all-time when ranked with a 161-150 mark as a ranked team on the road.
- The Illini had their third game of the season with 20+ makes from the free-throw line
- Illinois knocked down its first 13 free throws and finished 29-for-32 from the stripe.
- The Illini shot over 90% from the free throw line for the second time this season (94.4% vs. UConn on Nov. 28).
- Illinois' 29 made free throws are its most in a Big Ten game since making 32 at Maryland on Feb. 17, 2024.
- The Illini shot over 90% from the free throw line on 30+ attempts for the first time since Nov. 10, 2017 (34-for-37 vs. Southern).
- Illinois knocked down 11 3-pointers, its sixth outing with 10+ makes from beyond the arc.
- The Illini out-rebounded the Buckeyes at a 37-30 clip.
- Illinois has out-rebounded its opponents in eight contests this season.
