The 2025 Illinois basketball season has been great, with the Fighting Illini at 19-3. They recently avenged one of their losses after beating Nebraska, 78-69, and one massive reason has been the performance of freshman Keaton Wagler. He has been on fire over the Fighting Illini's last three games, and he has been doing something unprecedented from a scoring perspective as a freshman.
College basketball writer Jared Berson had the stats to prove that what Wagler has been doing recently is unprecedented and hasn't been seen in at least 20 seasons. He is the first Division I player over the last 20 seasons with multiple career games with 25+ points in road wins over AP Top-5 teams.
Illinois beat Purdue and Nebraska on the road over the last three games. Wagler scored 74 points in two road wins over Top-5 teams over the last eight days. He had 28 points against Nebraska and then scored 46 points in a win over Purdue.
It is also worth noting that Brad Underwood said after the Nebraska game that Wagler can only get better from here. “His [shooting] percentage would be really good if we quit throwing him the ball at the end of the shot clock, and he has to jack them from half-court,” Underwood told Nick Bahe of FoxSports after the game.
The win itself could completely change the Big Ten title race. Nebraska lost its second straight game after starting 20-0, and the win keeps Illinois in the hunt for the title. The Fighting Illini instantly jump to the top of the Big Ten next to Michigan. Another top-5 road win gave Illinois its fifth Quad 1A victory and firmly puts the Illini in the mix for a No. 1 seed if they continue to stack wins.
The keys for Illinois will be how the talent all meshes when Kylan Boswell returns from his injury. Wagler's hot streak started the minute Boswell got injured with a hand injury, and how the minutes are balanced when he comes back will be huge.
