IOWA CITY, Iowa. — Make that ten of the last eleven against the Hawkeyes!
After losing five straight games to Iowa from 2018-2020, Illinois has now won ten of the last eleven, five straight, and two in a row on the road in Iowa City.
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Illinois (13-3, 4-1 B1G) won their fifth straight game by walking into Carver-Hawkeye Arena in Iowa City on Sunday morning and beating Iowa (12-4, 2-3 B1G) 75-69.
Freshman Keaton Wagler continued his unbelievable freshman campaign, tallying 19 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists in this contest. He scored 7 straight points for the Illini in the midst of a huge Iowa run late in the second half.
Senior Kylan Boswell did his part too, scoring back-to-back crucial buckets with under three minutes to go. He finished with 17 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists and had quite the impact on the defensive end as well. Boswell had 3 steals and helped keep Iowa star Bennett Stirtz in check.
The two guards combined to score the team’s final 20 points.
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A quick 8-0 lead set the tone early on for the visiting Illini. Brad Underwood’s squad led by as many as 18 points in the opening half and managed to go into the break with an 11-point lead.
Iowa was held to a mere 24 points on 32.1% shooting in the first half. By the third media timeout of the first half, Andrej Stojakovic had as many points as the entire Hawkeyes team. Stojakovic led Illinois with 13 points on 5-for-10 shooting in the first half.
Unfortunately for Illinois, the Iowa offense came alive in the second half. A 16-4 Iowa run in the second half brought some energy to Carver-Hawkeye Arena and gave the Illini quite the scare.
Despite Iowa star Bennett Stirtz battling foul trouble, the Hawkeye supporting cast cut a 17-point Illinois second half lead to just 4 points. In the end, Illinois’ star-studded backcourt of Kylan Boswell and Keaton Wagler did just enough to help Illinois escape Iowa City with a massive road win.
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Stat Stuffers
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Kylan Boswell (ILL) — 17 points, 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals
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Keaton Wagler (ILL) — 19 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists
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Andrej Stojakovic (ILL) — 17 points, 5 rebounds
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Tavion Banks (IOWA) — 16 points, 7 rebounds, 5 assists
Moments that Mattered
Andrej couldn’t be stopped in the first half.
Looking Ahead
Illinois continues Big Ten play with a trip to Evanston to take on the Northwestern Wildcats.
You can catch that game on BTN at 7:30 p.m. on Wednesday, January 14th.
