This past weekend was a big one for the Illinois Fighting Illini as they notched a huge win on their resume, knocking off Nebraska, 78-69. Coming into the matchup, Nebraska was ranked No. 5 in the country, while Illinois was at No. 9. Following the win, Illinois and Nebraska swapped ranking spots with the Cornhuskers sliding to No. 9 while the Fighting Illini jumped up to No. 5 in the latest AP men’s basketball poll.
This was Illinois’ 11th consecutive win, and they moved into a virtual tie with Michigan State atop the Big Ten standings at 10-1 in conference play. The only loss in conference play that Illinois has had was against Nebraska earlier this season. It was a close game with Nebraska squeaking past, 83-80. Following that loss, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood put the team through tough practices to regain their focus.
This is Underwood’s ninth season at the helm as Illinois head coach, and over that time he’s complied an overall record of 184-104. He’s led the Fighting Illini to five NCAA Tournament appearances, with an Elite Eight appearance during the 2023-24 season.
In recent games, the emergence of freshman guard Keaton Wagler has helped power the team. Wagler stepped into a larger role amid the injury to Kylan Boswell. Wagler ended up dropping a career-high 46 points during Illinois’ win against Purdue about a week ago.
Wagler has started all 22 games this season and is the team’s leading scorer at 18.1 points per game. He’s also averaging 5.0 rebounds and 4.2 assists with splits of 47.9 percent shooting from the field, 43.8 percent shooting from the 3-point line and 81.6 percent shooting from the free-throw line.
Illinois has also been bolstered by a pair of transfers in Andrej Stojakovic and Zvonimir Ivisic. Both have been among the Illini’s top players this season.
