No. 20 Illinois (11-3, 2-1) kept Penn State (9-5, 0-3) winless in conference play with a 73-65 victory at The Palestra on Saturday night. Despite star freshman guard Keaton Wagler battling foul trouble and 3-pointers refusing to fall, the Illini still managed to pull out a key win in Philadelphia to kick off the new year.
“Keaton hung in there, ended up having a solid night, but I thought that (it was) just a hard, gritty road win in the Big Ten on a night offensively we weren’t great,” said Illinois head coach Brad Underwood. “I thought our defense was, for the most part, pretty good.”
Big Z makes big defensive impact
When the offense wasn’t clicking for the Illini, their defense stepped up on Saturday night and limited the Nittany Lions from gaining any serious momentum either.
Junior center Zvonimir Ivišić was Illinois’ anchor on the defensive side of the ball, especially in the first half. He finished the game with five blocks, four of which came in the opening 20 minutes, and used his length on multiple other occasions to stop Penn State from getting good looks around the basket. The Nittany Lions shot just 5 for 14 inside the arc in the first half, which, combined with their poor 3-point shooting, led to their 14-point halftime deficit.
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Ivišić’s twitchiness and mobility defensively has been a standout skill this season, and he is cementing himself as potentially the greatest rim protector that Illinois has had. The energy that he played with defensively seemed to translate to the rest of the team. The defensive fight, especially right out of the gate, was high, and the Illini were aggressive in pressuring the ball on the perimeter and shifting quickly as the Nittany Lions tried to work their offense.
“Knowing there’s somebody who’s not letting the ball go in the rim if I get beat or something, it allows me to be more aggressive picking the ball up,” said senior guard Kylan Boswell. “We just put a lot of trust into (Ivišić). We work on it every day. We work on our shifts, work on our crackdowns. And he just continues to prove that he will be down there to protect us.”
Wagler’s minutes limited, but cause major difference
Wagler’s poise and low number of errors have really stood out this season, but against Penn State, that was different. Wagler was in foul trouble early, but Underwood kept him in the game for most of the first half, and it paid off. The projected first round draft pick scored all 10 of his first half points after picking up his first two fouls, giving the Illini some offensive firepower ahead of halftime that was much needed.
Eventually, Wagler picked up his third foul at the end of the first half and his fourth just 33 seconds after halftime, so he had to sit for most of the second half. When he did get back in, though late in the game, he once again provided instant offense, getting to the foul line three times and sinking all six of his free throws.
Wagler only played 20 minutes, but the difference he made in the Illini offense when he was on the floor was night and day. Even through a slow shooting start and foul trouble, he found a way to impose his will on the game and be an engine when his team needed it. Had Wagler been able to stay on the floor for longer, the final score may have more accurately reflected the talent differential between Illinois and Penn State.
“We sure don’t want to play without Keaton half a ball game like we did tonight,” Underwood said. “First time in a while we’ve fought foul trouble. I think we’re number two in the country in the fewest fouls committed. Not tonight.”
With Wagler having to sit for longer periods of time, Boswell ended up playing 35 minutes and gave the Illini a veteran boost. He had a team-high 18 points while only turning it over once.
“Kylan I thought played a tremendous ball game having to play extended minutes,” Underwood said.
Finding a way to win
Illinois only shot 39.3% on the night, including 22.2% from three, their worst night from beyond the arc since losing to UConn in late November. However, the Illini still found ways to make an impact and pull out a win under less than ideal circumstances.
“We talk a lot about in our program, is how do you win when the ball doesn’t go in, and tonight was a great example of that,” Underwood said. “I thought we did a much better job of keeping them off the offensive glass and not giving them second chance opportunities … We did the things we had to do: get to the foul line and offensive rebounds.”
In the second half, Illinois used all of the fouls the referees were calling to its advantage, getting 16 shots at the charity stripe. The Illini converted at an extremely high rate on those opportunities, only missing one free throw in the final 20 minutes.
Freshman forward David Mirković was a standout in the second half that helped keep the Illini ahead. He did exactly what Underwood wanted out of his team to stymie the runs Penn State made to cut into the Illinois lead: draw fouls and get on the glass. Mirković went 5 for 6 from the charity stripe in the second half and grabbed seven rebounds, including five on the offensive end.
“I think that he’s got the ability, he’s got the physicality, he’s got the IQ, the understanding to go do that (offensive rebound),” Underwood said. “I think it manifested itself pretty well tonight because he was around the basket a lot.”
Mirković and Zvonimir Ivišić stepping up down low was huge for Illinois on a night when starting junior center Tomislav Ivišić went scoreless and only grabbed one rebound. It’s the next man up mentality, and Mirković, even at such a young age, has no issue being a focal point of what Illinois does on the court.
Looking ahead
Before Illinois faces what should be its first true Big Ten test of 2026 at Purdue (13-1, 3-0) on Jan. 24, it has a slate of three home and two road conference games that should land in the win column if everything goes to plan. However, as the Illini saw in Philadelphia, victories don’t always come easy, especially on the road.
“(Underwood) always says the Big Ten game is really different,” Mirković said. “As you said, shots not going to fall every time. Away crowd, it’s getting chippy, referees, fans. It’s not always going to be easy, but we got to grow into big teams where we’re winning those away games. Those are the sweetest ones. Road kills.”
Underwood wants his players to keep in mind that they figured out a way to overcome their shooting struggles, foul trouble and a road crowd. That is something that last year’s team struggled with at points, so if this year’s team can find a consistent will to win, the results should follow.
“It’s a road win; they’re really really hard to get, and you don’t give them back,” Underwood said. “When the ball doesn’t go in, how do we have to grow and win? And I thought we did it with our defense, we did it with our rebounding, we did it with the foul line and we did it with offensive rebounding. All those are all the things that that that we talk about, and now we’ve got 17 more. It’s a grind.”
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