Published on January 12, 2026 6:03 am
Last Updated on January 12, 2026 6:03 am
BY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
IOWA CITY, Iowa – No. 16 Illinois outlasted a late-game surge by No. 19 Iowa, to close out a 75-69 Big Ten road win in a Top-20 matchup on Sunday at Carver-Hawkeye Arena.
Illinois (13-3, 4-1 B1G) never trailed in the contest and built a 17-point lead at the 11-minute mark of the second half before a furious comeback effort by the host Hawkeyes (12-3, 2-3) cut the advantage to as close as four points, four times in the final two minutes.
Three Illini scored in double-figures, led by a game-high 19 points (16 in the second half) from freshman Keaton Wagler. Senior Kylan Boswell and junior Andrej Stojakovic each added 17 points, while freshman David Mirkovic posted team highs with 12 rebounds and five assists in the win.
The victory runs the Fighting Illini’s season-long win streak to five straight since the team’s Dec. 22 Braggin’ Rights victory over Mizzou, and gives the Orange and Blue their first 3-0 road start to Big Ten play since the 2021-22 season.
The Illini knocked down 10 3-pointers in the game – four from Wagler, two from Zvonimir Ivisic, and one each from Boswell, Mirkovic, Stojakovic and Tomislav Ivisic – and outrebounded Iowa by a 38-31 margin.
Leading 47-38 with 14:30 to play, Illinois mounted an 11-3 run which included both of Zvonimir Ivisic’s key 3-pointers and was capped by Boswell’s triple at the 11:25 mark that gave the Orange and Blue a 58-41 advantage.
Iowa answered with seven straight points to pull back within 10, 58-48, with just under 10 minutes to play, but Wagler and Boswell held the Iowa comeback at bay. Wagler scored 11 of his 17 over the final 9 minutes, and Boswell six of his 17 in the last 3 minutes to close out the win.
Next up, Illinois travels to Evanston for a Big Ten road matchup at Northwestern. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. CT on BTN, Wednesday night from Welsh-Ryan Arena.
POSTGAME NOTES
Player Notes
Keaton Wagler scored a game-high 19 points, 16 in the second half, with five rebounds and four assists.
Thirteenth double-digit scoring game of the season.
Team-most fifth game as the Illini’s leading scorer
Eighth straight game with 10+ points, averaging 17.9 ppg during that stretch
Went 4-for-7 from 3-point range, his fourth game of the season with at least four triples and one short of his career high vs. Missouri (12/22/25).
Hit at least one 3-pointer in 15 of the first 16 games of his collegiate career, the most games with a triple on the team this season.
Kylan Boswell tallied 17 points with four rebounds, three assists, and three steals.
Eleventh double-digit scoring game of the season and the 35th of his Illinois career in 50 games.
Three steals marks a season high and is tied for the most in a game by an Illini player this season.
Andrej Stojakovic scored 17 points with five rebounds and two steals.
Tenth game of the season scoring in double-digits (three straight).
Third game of the season with multiple steals.
David Mirkovic pulled down a game-high 12 rebounds (three offensive) with seven points and five assists.
Sixth game of the season with 10+ boards.
Three consecutive games with at least three offensive rebounds.
Five assists tied a career-high mark set vs. UTRGV (11/24/25) and matched vs. Missouri (12/22/25).
Zvonimir Ivisic scored all eight of the Illini’s bench points including a pair of key, second-half 3-pointers.
Knocked down two 3-pointers to move into a tie for the national lead among 7-footers with seven games with multiple triples this season.
Team Notes
Starters: Kylan Boswell, Tomislav Ivisic, David Mirkovic, Andrej Stojakovic, and Keaton Wagler.
Eleventh straight game with this lineup (9-2)
Illinois has won five straight games, the team’s longest win streak of the season.
Illinois has recorded four Quad 1 wins this season, tied for the seventh-most in the nation.
The Illini are 5-2 away from home this season
Illinois is 3-0 in road games in Big Ten play for the first time since 2021-22.
Illinois outrebounded Iowa, 38-31.
Illinois has outrebounded 14 of 16 opponents this season with a 12-2 record in those contests.
The Illini knocked down 10 3-pointers and improved to 9-2 in 11 games this season with at least 10 3-pointers.
Illinois 11 games with 10+ 3-pointers are the most in the Big Ten this season.
Illinois improves to 95-77 all-time vs. Iowa and 25-57 in road games vs. the Hawkeyes.
Head coach Brad Underwood is 10-6 vs. Iowa and has led the Illini to five straight wins in the series and 10 of the last 11.
The #16 Illini are:
665-270 (.711) all-time when ranked inside the AP Top 25, including a 163-150 (.521) on the road.
114-111 (.507) all-time in ranked-vs.-ranked matchups, including a 19-51 (.271) mark on the road.
Eighty-fifth Big Ten win since 2019-20, one behind Purdue for the most in the league over the last seven seasons.
Illinois has won a Big Ten-best 37 road games in league play over the last seven seasons.