Published on February 5, 2026 6:34 am
Last Updated on February 5, 2026 6:34 am
BY UNIVERSITY OF ILLINOIS
CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – No. 5 Illinois (20-3, 11-1 Big Ten) soared past Northwestern (10-13, 2-10 Big Ten), 84-44, to earn its largest margin of victory over a conference opponent this season.
A balanced offensive effort led to five Illini scoring in double-digits as the team knocked down 17 threes. Illinois dominated the rebound battle 50-23. On the defensive end, the Illini shut down the Big Ten’s leading scorer, Nick Martinelli, holding him to just four points while the Wildcats shot 19-65 as a group. The victory extends Illinois’ winning streak to 12.
Andrej Stojakovic led Illinois in the scoring column, putting up 17 points on 4-for-6 shooting aided by a 9-for-10 night at the charity stripe. This marks Stojakovic’s 10th 15+ point outing this season.
Ben Humrichous, Keaton Wagler and Zvonimir Ivisic all recorded 13 points and seven rebounds against the Wildcats. Wagler dished out five assists.
David Mirkovic put up 12 points and tied his career-high with four threes; he also secured seven rebounds.
Tomislav Ivisic grabbed a team-high 12 rebounds in just 24 minutes while contributing five points. Jake Davis sank three triples to tally nine points.
Illinois opened the floodgates early in the night, going on a monstrous 33-4 run highlighted by seven threes in a six-minute stretch. The Ilini were brilliant on both sides of the floor, holding the Wildcats to 8-for-31 shooting while Illinois shot 14-for-28.
Mirkovic, Humrichous, Wagler and Davis all sank multiple threes in the half to lead Illinois to a season-high 11 first half threes.
The Illini stayed hot coming out of the locker room, going on a 16-2 run right out of the half. After the Wildcats scored seven points over a two-minute stretch, Illinois responded once again with another 11-0 run.
Illinois now travels to East Lansing, Mich. for top-10 showdown Saturday vs. No. 10 Michigan State at the Breslin Center. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. CT on FOX.
POSTGAME NOTES
Player
Andrej Stojakovic paced the Illinois offense with 17 points, shooting 9-for-10 from the free-throw line, and adding four rebounds, two assists, and a steal.
Recorded season highs in free-throws made and attempted.
Keaton Wagler tallied 13 points, grabbed seven rebounds and dished out a team-high five assists.
Reached double-figures scoring for the 15th straight game, and a team-leading 20th time this season, averaging 20.3 points during that stretch.
Sixth game this season with 10+ points, 5+ rebounds and 5+ assists.
David Mirkovic shot 80 percent from deep (4-for-5) to score 12 points and recorded seven rebounds and two assists.
Four treys tied his career high set in Illinois win at Ohio State (12/9/25)
Has made multiple 3-pointers in six of the last seven games and in 11 contests overall this season.
Twelfth game in a row with 5+ rebounds
Ben Humrichous scored 13 points, on an efficient 5-for-8 shooting, and grabbed seven boards.
Team-leading 46th game with a 3-pointer over the last two seasons.
Knocked down at least three 3-pointers for the fifth time this season.
Has multiple treys in eight games and four of his last five.
Zvonimir Ivisic tallied 13 points, on 5-for-8 shooting from the floor and 3-for-5 from behind the arc, with seven rebounds, two blocked shots and an assist.
Seventh game of the season with 10+ points.
Twelfth game in a row recording a block, averaging 2.3 blocks per game over that stretch.
Fifteenth multi-block game of the season, and the 10th in his last 12 games.
Matched his season high with three made 3-pointers for the third time this season.
Jake Davis added nine points, secured three rebounds, and tallied two assists.
Fifth game in a row with at least one 3-pointer.
Tomislav Ivisic grabbed a team-most 12 rebounds to go with five points and five assists.
Eighty-six 3-pointers made since 2024-25, most in the nation by a 7-footer.
Grabbed a season-high 12 rebounds.
Seventh game in a row with 6+ boards.
Recorded a season-high five assists.
Team
Starters: Jake Davis, Tomislav Ivisic, David Mirkovic, Andrej Stojakovic, and Keaton Wagler.
Fifth game without Kylan Boswell (broken right hand).
Illinois moves to 20-3 overall, the team’s best start since also opening 20-3 in 2005-06.
With Illinois trailing 7-5, the Illini went on a 25-2 run to establish a 20-point edge with 8:19 remaining in the first half.
Illinois went 9-for-13 from the field and made seven 3-pointers during that stretch.
Illinois’ 40-point margin of victory is its largest in Big Ten play in 22 years, since beating Penn State 80-37 on Jan. 21, 2004.
Allowed just 44 points, the fewest by a Big Ten opponent since Illinois defeated Purdue 63-37 on Jan. 5, 2020.
Illinois had five scorers in double-digits, the team’s most in Big Ten play this season.
Illinois secures its seventh straight 20-win regular season under Brad Underwood.
The Illini entered the season as one of only four teams to do so each of the previous six years, alongside Gonzaga, Houston and San Diego State.
The Illini are 11-1 in Big Ten play for the first time since the 2004-05 squad won its first 15 league games as part of 29-straight wins to open the season.
Illinois will finish above .500 in Big Ten play for the seventh consecutive season, the longest streak in the league.
Illinois has won 12 straight games since Dec. 22, the team’s longest win streak of the season, and the program’s longest since winning 12 straight games to open the 2012-13 season.
Illinois has won 10 consecutive Big Ten games, matching the longest streak in conference play under Brad Underwood since winning 10 straight league games across two seasons from Feb. 25, 2021 through Jan. 13, 2022.
Illinois is 12-1 at home this season, the program’s best start since also opening 12-1 at State Farm Center in 2019-20.
The Illini are averaging 88.6 points per game at home, with an average scoring margin of +24.2 ppg.
Wednesday’s crowd was the seventh home sellout (15,544) of the season at State Farm Center. The Illini are averaging 14,728 fans per game, 95% capacity.
The #5 Illini are 672-270 (.713) all-time when ranked inside the AP Top 25.
Illinois is 367-54 (.871) at home, including a 289-41 (.876) mark at State Farm Center, when ranked.
Under Brad Underwood, the Illini are now 110-46 (.705) when ranked.
This marks Illinois’ 92nd Big Ten win since 2019-20, the most in the league over the last seven seasons.
The Illini posted a 14-2 advantage in second-chance points, entering the game leading the Big Ten in second-chance scoring (16.0 ppg).
Illinois outrebounded Northwestern, 50-23.
Illinois has outrebounded 20 of 23 opponents this season with an 18-2 record in those contests.
It marked Illinois’ most rebounds since pulling down 51 boards vs. FGCU (11/7/25).
Illinois knocked down 17 3-pointers, one short of the program record tied Jan. 24 in the team’s win at #4 Purdue.
Illinois ranks second in the Big Ten averaging 11.0 three-pointers and has made 10+ 3-pointers in a Big Ten-leading 17 games this season with a 15-2 record.
The Illini have knocked down at least 10 triples in 13 of the last 15 games, highlighted by school-record tying 18 treys in the win at No. 4 Purdue on Jan. 24.
Illinois hit 11 triples in the first half vs. NU, the most by the Illini in a single half this season, punctuated by Keaton Wagler’s half-court shot as time expired in the period.