By Larry Smith - Co-Host & Executive Producer, IlliniGuys Sports Spectacular

January 31, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

It was the finest hour of the season for the Illinois men's basketball team.

On January 24th, the always rabid and passionate Purdue fans had already been leaving Mackey Arena for several minutes, stunned at seeing their beloved then-4th ranked Boilermakers lose a second home game to a ranked opponent in as many months. And it was to the hated Illini, who hadn't left West Lafayette with the taste of victory in six years.

The orange-clad Illini players were on the court celebrating the exploits of Keaton Wagler, the precocious freshman who had scored a Mackey visitor-record 46 points with a national audience watching. The normally-stoic teenager, still days shy from his 19th birthday, mean-mugged while his teammates laughed and mobbed him.

But lost in the postgame euphoria was something else. A pattern.

The Illini are becoming masters at closing out games.

At 9-1 in Big Ten games, no conference foe is off to a better 10-game start than head coach Brad Underwood's Illini. Thanks in part to Illinois' ability to outwit - and outscore - their opponents in the final minutes. If you don't have the lead with five minutes to go in the game, so far you are not going to beat them.

In fact, Purdue was ahead at the 5:00 mark but was outscored 20-11 the rest of the way to walk off with a stunning loss; the latest victim of the Illini's late-game chokehold.

Consider this; in the final five minutes of their 10 conference games this season, Illinois:

--has allowed just 10 made three-point field goals. Three of those were by a desperate Maryland team trying to avoid a 20-point loss.

--has held opponents to just 25 percent shooting from the arc

--has outscored opponents 51-23 at the free throw line

--is allowing an average of 10.6 points

--has committed a total of 12 turnovers

Let that last one sink in for a moment. In the 50 minutes of clutch time in Big Ten games this season, the Illini have committed just 12 turnovers. Or barely more than one per game. They were perfect at Purdue; never turning the ball over in crunch time and allowing just a single three-pointer in the last five minutes when All-American guard Braden Smith drained a triple in the final minute.

Keep in mind, Illinois hasn't had defensive specialist and team leader Kylan Boswell for the last three games - including the win at Purdue - and will likely be sidelined for at least another two weeks with a broken hand.

Illinois even closed well in their lone league loss last month. They held Nebraska to just two free throws down the stretch with the lone successful three-pointer launched by Jamarques Lawrence in the final moments, the ball soaring through the net at the buzzer and keeping Illinois from an overtime period in which to extend their late game magic. The Illini outscored the Huskers 15-11 in that final stretch to force a tie moments before Lawrence's heroics.

What's the difference? Some of it has to be contributed to first-year assistant coach Cam Crocker, who brought a different defensive philosophy from Colgate to the Illini, making them less predictable and more effective down the stretch. Another key is a core of veterans with a high basketball IQ. Boswell, Tomislav Ivisic, Ben Humrichous, and Jake Davis are all returning upperclassmen from last season. And then there is Wagler, playing with a maturity well beyond his years and developing into an all-conference level lead guard with a 3 to 1 assist to turnover ratio and 22 points per game average since December 1st. The Illini have gone 12-1 during that time.

Illinois looks to avenge that Nebraska loss on Sunday when they step onto the court in Lincoln, where they lost in overtime last year. But there is a coolness with this Illini team. There's a trust and connectivity on a level we didn't see last season. They don't get rattled. They don't panic. They don't lose control.

And with the exception of one shot, they don't lose in Big Ten play. There are plenty of tests to their mettle on the horizon; 5th ranked Nebraska Sunday, a visit No. 7 Michigan State next Saturday and a home date with 3rd ranked Michigan later in February not to mention the Big Ten tournament next month in Chicago with the NCAA tourney to follow.

Illinois has discovered that sound, connected defense really does win you games. If the old adage truly extends to championships, then the very finest hour may be still yet to come.