By IlliniGuys Staff

November 28, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

NEW YORK -- When the Illinois Fighting Illini make out their wish list for 2026, it might include no trips to Madison Square Garden. Or at least not without a provision for a wider basket.

The hallowed venue in the heart of New York City proved again to be a house of horrors for the 13th ranked Illini, who went nearly nine minutes without a field goal to allowed No. 5 UConn to build and maintain a double-digit lead to put up a 74-61 win.

Illinois suffered the worst loss in program history in this building last February in a 110-67 beating by Duke, in which the Illini hit just 2-of-26 from the three point arc. They fared only slightly better on Friday, making 6-of-29 attempts as they end up 8-of-55 on three pointers at MSG this calendar year.

Since the beginning of the 2024-25 season, Illinois is 2-10 when they fail to connect on at least 25 percent of their field goal attempts.

Kylan Boswell was the lone catalyst on both ends of the court for Illinois (6-2), scoring a game-high 25 points with nine points, three assists, and just one turnover in 39 minutes.  No one on the Illini offered much offensively, as they went 18 minutes and 42 seconds with no field goals from any Illini other than their senior leader.

UConn (6-1) built a 64-43 lead with 9:59 left when Illinois began a comeback. They held the Huskies to just three field goals the rest of the game as they put together a 16-2 run, fueled by Boswell and Tomislav Ivisic. Ineffective for much of the game, the junior center scored nine of his 11 points during that run - including Illinois' only three-pointer during that stretch - to close within 66-59.

Malachi Smith answered with a three-pointer plus a free throw on a controversial play where it appeared the shot clock had run out and the Illinois rally ended as well.

Ivisic also pulled down a game-high 10 rebounds for his first double-double of the season and the 12th of his career.

Illinois leading scorer Andrej Stojakovic averaged 18.5 points per game coming into the game, but managed just a season-low three points on 1-of-7 shooting and was benched for the final eight minutes and 46 seconds of the game, watching the Illini comeback from the sidelines.

Solo Ball, who played four minutes in mop-up duty in UConn's decisive 77-52 NCAA Elite Eight victory over Illinois in 2024 on the Huskies' way to a repeat national championship, led UConn with 15 points. Smith scored 14 and Alex Karaban, another star from that title team, added 12 for the Huskies.

Illinois, which failed to score at least 80 points for the first time this season, returns to action on Saturday, December 6th when they travel to Nashville to take on No. 17 Tennessee (7pm, ESPN). The then-top ranked Volunteers beat the Illini 56-55 last December at State Farm Center on a last-second layup by Justin Gainey.

Stay with IlliniGuys.com for complete post-game coverage.