By IlliniGuys Staff

December 22, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

ST. LOUIS, Mo. - Any Illini fans looking for a special treat heading into Christmas weekend were given something they've never seen before: a 43-point rout of rival Missouri.

Freshman Keaton Wagler scored a game-high 22 points in his introduction to the Braggin' Rights rivalry, but it was the Illinois defense that delivered a memorable night in a 91-48 rout of the Tigers before a sellout crowd of 18,505.

It was the third win in a row in the series for the 20th ranked Illini (9-3), their longest run since taking five straight from 2013-18. The winning margin was the largest for either team in the 56 games played going back to 1932 and the 48 points the lowest total for the Tigers in the series since 1942.

Illinois held Missouri (10-3) to just two field goals in the final six minutes of the first half as they closed on a 14-5 run to take a 41-25 lead into intermission. It didn't get any better for the Tigers as the Illini opened the second half on an 11-2 run to open a 52-28 gap and the rout was on.

Missouri entered the game as the third best shooting team in the nation at 53.7 percent, but managed just 28.6 percent against the Illinois defense. It was the worst shooting night for the Tigers since they hit just 28.6 percent of their shots in a 66-45 loss at Liberty in December, 2021. They were also held 38 points under their season average; the 48 points is their lowest total since an 87-43 thumping at Arkansas on January 12, 2022, which was also their worst loss overall before Monday night.

The Tigers' leading scorer Mark Mitchell, averaging 18.5 points per game entering the night, was held to just five points on 2-of-6 shooting. Sebastian Mack led Missouri with 17 points, 15 coming in the second half when Illinois was adding to its massive lead.

Wagler put up his third 20-point effort in the last four games and his fourth overall. The 6-foot-5 guard hit a career-high five three-pointers and also grabbed eight rebounds and passed out four assists with just one turnover. In the last four outings, Wagler has connected on 16 of 30 three-point attempts and has 24 assists against just six turnovers.

Andrej Stojakovic scored 16 despite leaving the game in the first half with an ankle injury. The junior forward returned to start the second half and threw down a thunderous dunk to delight the Illini fans on hand and punctuate a dominant performance by the Illinois team. Tomislav Ivisic scored 14 points and was 3-of-5 from three-point range and grabbed five rebounds in his best outing of the season.  Twin brother Zvonimir Ivisic pulled down 11 rebounds to lead a 43-24 Illini advantage on the boards.

Illinois finished 15-of-33 from the three-point arc for 45.5 percent shooting; their best long-distance shooting night since draining 17 threes in a season-opening win against Jackson State on November 3rd and the most against a Power 5 opponent since making 16 at then-9th ranked Oregon on January 2nd of this year.

Illinois is off until next Monday when they host Southern (2pm, BTN) at State Farm Center.

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