By IlliniGuys Staff

December 9, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

COLUMBUS, Ohio - Freshman Keaton Wagler turned in the best performance of his brief Illini career, scoring a team-best and career-high 23 points to offset Bruce Thornton's hot-shooting night and propel 13th ranked Illinois to a hard-fought 88-80 victory.

The Big Ten season opener for both teams saw them combine for 48 fouls and 53 free throw attempts in the game.

David Mirkovic scored 22 and grabbed a team-best nine rebounds. Andrej Stojakovic added 17 points and Zvonimir Ivisic 13 for Illinois (8-2, 1-0 in Big Ten).

Ohio State (7-2, 1-1 in Big Ten) was led by Thornton's 34 points. He was nearly perfect in the first half, as he single-handedly kept Ohio State in the game. The senior, who came in averaging 15 points in five previous meetings with the Illini, hit his first nine shots on his way to a 24-point half. It was his fourth career 20-point game against Illinois. But the rest of the Buckeyes were just 6-of-21 from the field in the half.

The Illini matched Thornton's wrecking ball with a series of hammers. Mirkovic hit a trio of three-pointers to help Illinois build a 24-15 lead. Wagler scored seven of his 14 points in the final two minutes and Zvonimir Ivisic added 10 off the bench as Illinois carried a 48-42 lead into halftime.

Thornton drained a career-best six three-pointers on the night, but has enjoyed just one win in six career games against the Illini.

Illinois connected on 11 shots from outside the arc, tying their second-best on the year. They're now 5-1 this season when hitting at least 10 three-pointers in the game.

Illinois returns home to face No. 23 Nebraska on Saturday in their conference home opener and their first game at State Farm Center since beating Texas-Rio Grande Valley 87-73 on November 24th.

Stay with IlliniGuys.com for complete postgame coverage.