CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Missing two of its stars in the frontcourt, Illinois needed everyone on the court to do what they do well — with just a little bit more effort.
“It was six dudes,” said head coach Brad Underwood. “We had one ball handler tonight.”
The Illini came up just short, dropping a 92-90 overtime loss to the Wisconsin Badgers at State Farm Center on Tuesday to conclude an exhausting stretch of five games in 13 days. After leading for 24 minutes, the Illini let their guard down at the worst possible time. Illinois missed seven late free throws and turned the ball over eight times in the second half, giving up another win after looking like the better team for almost the whole game.
“I don’t have one complaint,” Underwood said. “We just need health.”
What really caused the collapse? Was it Wisconsin’s defensive changes? Was it veteran guards Nick Boyd and John Blackwell combining for 49 points? Was it the poor performance on the offensive glass? Was it the fact that Illinois was down two of its best perimeter defenders and ball handlers?
With veteran guard Kylan Boswell remaining sidelined with a hand injury, the Illini were already down their best defender and the engine of the squad.
Coming off a 17-point, seven-rebound game against Michigan State, Underwood had veteran guard Andrej Stojakovic geared up to be a release valve for Illinois Tuesday night with his ability to get to the rim one-on-one. But the ankle injury that Stojakovic picked up early against the Spartans lingered, and the Illini had to adapt quickly down another star in the backcourt against the Badgers.
Veteran forward Tomislav Ivisic wasted no time picking up the offensive load, scoring 17 first-half points on 7-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-4 from deep. A 9-0 Illinois run in the back end of the first half, led by star freshman Keaton Wagler and veteran forward Ben Humrichous, left the Illini (20-5, 11-3 Big Ten) up 6 going into the break after trailing the first 10 minutes.
Wisconsin shot only 37% from the field in the first half. And the struggles resumed shortly after halftime for the Badgers, unable to score for five minutes straight in a drought that saw them miss ten straight field goals.
It took quite a while for Wisconsin to heat up, but a late run led by Nick Boyd and John Blackwell and sophomore forward Austin Rapp tied the game up at 76 with two minutes to go after trailing by 12 with eight minutes to go.
Wagler kept Illinois afloat, but the Badgers just wouldn’t back down. Rapp sank another triple to put Wisconsin up one with less than a minute to go before Wagler knocked down one of two free throws with 30 seconds to go, forcing overtime. With all the momentum in the world, the Wisconsin Badgers stormed ahead in overtime to score eight straight and go up 89-81. Illinois managed to cut the lead to two points with 43 seconds to go, but the Badgers hung on and stole the win.
The Illini hoped to quickly gain momentum back at home after a heartbreaking overtime loss in East Lansing against No. 10 Michigan State snapped Illinois’ 12-game winning streak. But it was never going to be easy without two of their most vital players, up against a Wisconsin team that was also aiming to bounce back after its overtime loss to Indiana.
“It’s just been pretty fast so it’ll be nice to just kind of catch your breath for a minute,” Underwood said.
Illinois hosts Indiana on Feb. 15 at State Farm Center, looking to bounce back from two straight losses.
- Keaton Wagler: 34 points, seven assists, 12-of-23 FG, 5-of-10 3FG
- Tomislav Ivisic: 19 points, 11 rebounds
- David Mirkovic: 12 points, six rebounds, 3-of-6 3FG, four turnovers
- Ben Humrichous: 10 points, seven rebounds
date: 2026-02-12 01:53:00
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