Published on January 9, 2026 6:26 am
Last Updated on January 9, 2026 6:27 am
BY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 16 Illinois (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten) beat Rutgers (8-8, 1-4 Big Ten), 81-55, on Thursday night at State Farm Center.
Keaton Wagler paced the Illini in scoring with 17 points and added seven rebounds, while Tomislav Ivisic added 14 points and four rebounds.
Jake Davis scored 12 points, all in the first half, on four made 3-pointers, a career-high mark against a Big Ten opponent. Andrej Stojakovic contributed 12 points.
Illinois jumped out to a 19-8 lead which was ignited by two quick three pointers from Davis after the first tv timeout. The Illini didn’t cool off the rest of the half either as they held Rutgers scoreless for the final eight minutes in part of a 20-0 run to take their largest lead of 27, 43-16, into the locker room.
The 16 points scored by the Scarlet Knights in the first half marked the fewest allowed by the Illini in any half this season.
Rutgers came out of the halftime break knocking down a couple quick baskets to cut into the Orange and Blue lead, 48-28, but never got closer than 20 points the rest of the night.
Ivisic hit a pair of threes and made both of his free-throws to lead Illinois in scoring in the second half. Wagler added seven points of his own while David Mirkovic and Stojakovic each scored five in the second half as the Illini cruised to the 81-55 final to improve to 8-1 at home this season.
The Fighting Illini are back in action on Sunday, Jan. 11 when they travel to Iowa City to take on Iowa at 11 a.m. CT on FOX.
Player Notes
Kylan Boswell recorded nine points, five rebounds and a game-high five assists.
Third game of the season with at least five assists.
Fifth game of the season with at least five rebounds.
Keaton Wagler scored a game-high 17 points and seven rebounds, to go with three assists.
Twelfth double-digit scoring game of the season.
Seventh straight game with 10+ points, averaging 17.7 ppg during that stretch
Hit at least one 3-pointer in 14 of the first 15 games of his collegiate career, the most games with a triple on the team this season.
Andrej Stojakovic tallied 12 points and a game-high eight rebounds.
Eighth game of the season scoring in double-digits, and his second straight.
Second-best rebounding effort of the season behind his career-high-tying 10 vs. Nebraska on Dec. 13.
Jake Davis knocked down four 3-pointers to finish with 12 points and added three rebounds.
Third game of the season with 10+ points and the fifth such game of his Illinois career.
Ninth game as an Illini with multiple 3-pointers.
Fifth consecutive game with at least one 3-pointer, the longest streak of his Illinois career.
Four 3-pointers mark a career-high vs. a Big Ten opponent.
Tomislav Ivisic recorded 14 points, four rebounds, one assist, one block and one steal.
Seventh double-digit scoring game of the season and the 29th of his collegiate career.
Has hit a 3-pointer in 10 of 12 games played this season and entered
Thursday night ranked first nationally among 7-footers at 1.4 3-pointers per game.
Zvonimir Ivisic limited to two points, but added three rebounds (two offensive) and a team-high two blocks.
Ninth game of the season with multiple blocks (fourth consecutive).
Team Notes
Starters: Kylan Boswell, Tomislav Ivisic, David Mirkovic, Andrej Stojakovic, and Keaton Wagler.
Tenth straight game with this lineup (8-2)
Led 43-16 at halftime, the fewest points allowed by the Illini in a half this season.
Fourth game of the season leading by at least 25 points at the break.
Closed the first half on a 20-0 run over the final 8 minutes, the team’s second-largest scoring run of the season behind a 24-0 stretch vs. LIU on Nov. 22.
Illinois outrebounded Rutgers, 45-32.
Illinois has outrebounded 13 of 15 opponents this season with a 11-2 record in those contests.
The Illini knocked down 11 3-pointers and improved to 8-2 in 10 games this season with at least 10 3-pointers.
No. 16 Illinois is 664-270 (.711) all-time when ranked inside the AP Top 25.
The program is 363-54 (.871) at home, including a 285-41 (.874) mark at State Farm Center.
Illinois improves to 14-5 all-time vs. Rutgers and 9-0 in home games vs. the Scarlet Knights.
Eighty-fourth Big Ten win since 2019-20, one behind Purdue for the most in the league over the last seven seasons.
Illinois is 1-1 in Big Ten home games this season.