No. 16 Illinois (13-3, 4-1) traveled to Iowa City on Sunday morning and served up a win for brunch, taking down No. 19 Iowa (12-4, 2-3) 75-69. After a dominant first half on both ends of the floor by the Illini, a second half surge by the Hawkeyes cut the lead to single digits. However, Illinois stayed composed in the final minutes and did just enough to pull out a road win.
Illini freshman guard Keaton Wagler was the difference maker late. He scored 16 points in the last 20 minutes to combat a 25-point second half by the Hawkeye bench. Wagler finished with 19 points, while junior wing Andrej Stojaković and senior guard Kylan Boswell each had 17. The Illini remain undefeated on the road in Big Ten play.
“Terrific win for us,” said Illinois head coach Brad Underwood. “Road win in this league is like gold.”
Stirtz = shut down
Coming into Sunday, the major storyline was two projected first round draft picks facing off: Wagler and Iowa senior guard Bennett Stirtz. Wagler ended up getting the better of Stirtz due to Boswell’s lockdown defense.
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Boswell held Stirtz to 12 points on just 5 of 17 shooting. Stirtz also missed his last five shots, including four 3-pointers. All of those misses came during the last two minutes when Iowa was within six points of Illinois.
“My hat’s off to Kylan, I thought he was outstanding today against a great player,” Underwood said. “Bennett’s one of the best in the country. It’s the one thing that Kylan has the ability to do, is really sit down and guard, especially in moments where he feels a little bit like his opponents’ fatigued or tired. And then he pushes the go button.”
Boswell has been a lockdown defender since the moment he touched down in Champaign. From holding former Alabama star guard Mark Sears scoreless last season to not letting Stirtz get hot on Sunday, Boswell is always looking to match up with whoever the opponents best player is and get to work for 40 minutes.
“One of the biggest things is I’m a pest,” Boswell said. “I don’t really get tired very often defensively. I don’t want him to get comfortable.”
Disrupting Stirtz’s ability to score was not the only way the Illini planned to stop him. Making him get physical on defense and work on the other end of the floor was key, and it paid off. Stirtz dealt with foul trouble, picking up his fourth midway through the second half. That caused him to sit for seven straight minutes.
Illini bring offensive firepower, defensive energy
Offensively, Illinois had multiple weapons, with Wagler, Boswell and Stojaković all scoring in double figures. The supporting cast was solid as well, with freshman forward David Mirković and junior center Tomislav Ivišić each having seven points and junior center Zvonimir Ivišić adding eight.
“I thought David Mirković and Andrej Stojaković were elite on the offensive side early, and we caused them some problems,” Underwood said.
An early 21-5 lead for Illinois was spurred by a hot 13-0 run in which everybody contributed. Iowa did not have the size nor athleticism to match up with the Illini, who showed that they have firepower at every position.
What was most impressive about Illinois’ early scoring success was how much its defense kickstarted its offense. Before the Illini started making some careless mistakes of their own, they forced three quick turnovers and scored five points off of those errors. That energy also extended itself to the glass, where five offensive rebounds in the first half turned into eight second chance points.
Defensive intensity and rebounding have been a focus for the Illini, especially after their disappointing loss to formerly No. 23 Nebraska last month, and they’ve responded very well.
“(Practices after Nebraska) were hard as s–t, bro,” Boswell said, “Brad was on some really, really some hard s–t. It was good for us. That was a good wakeup call. I think the biggest thing is just not being comfortable ever.”
Hawkeye bench fights back, but not enough
After a 29-11 start for Illinois, Iowa had a strong run at the end of the first half that parlayed itself into second half success. The Hawkeyes outscored the Illini 45-40 in the final 20 minutes, and their bench was a big part of their offensive success.
While Stirtz sat for much of the half in foul trouble, the trio of senior wing Tavion Banks, sophomore guard Isaia Howard and freshman guard Tate Sage combined for 25 points on a very efficient 11 for 16 from the field. Sage was a perfect 3 for 3 around the rim and sunk two key free throws late, impressing Underwood.
“I thought Sage was tremendous with his cutting,” Underwood said.
Defensively, Iowa also hurt Illinois. The Illini had eight turnovers in the second half, compared to just three for the Hawkeyes, and those mistakes were turned into nine points by the home team. Iowa brought the Illinois lead down to around six for about the last five minutes of the game, with it getting as small as four.
“Unique, they played really well when Bennett got in foul trouble, kind of went to some switching,” Underwood said.
Despite a strong effort from Iowa on both ends, Illinois found some offensive energy to stay ahead and not give up the lead that it had established from the first play of the game.
After Stojaković shined in a first half in which Wagler only took two shots, the star freshman showed out when his team needed him most. While Iowa did its best to cut into the lead, Wagler responded, knocking down 3 of 5 triples and 5 of 6 free throws in the second half. Wagler has been an impressive shot maker all season, and that did not change on Sunday. He showed exactly why NBA teams are scouting him as a top pick in this year’s draft.
“I thought Keaton in the second half was just really tough,” Underwood said. “Big three, free throws, big shots, created opportunities.”
The freshman’s poise is indicative of a larger trend for the Illini: having the composure to stay solid when things don’t go their way. Big Ten road wins don’t come easy, but Illinois already has three of them early in the conference season. The toughness it takes to accomplish that is not something they can take for granted, but it’s a positive sign for a group that is really starting to find its groove.
“It’s what I complimented them on after the game,” Underwood. “We talked a lot about handling that moment and not getting riled. Sometimes I don’t have timeouts, I don’t want to call them, I need to save them. So we got to play through those moments and have some composure.”
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