By IlliniGuys Staff

January 8, 2026

(Cover photo courtesy Joe Clark/IlliniGuys)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - No. 16 Illinois has drawn rave reviews for an offense that was the best in the Big Ten the past two years and ranks second in the league this season. But it's the defense that has raised eyebrows in the past couple of weeks.

The Illini shut down a visiting Rutgers team for the final eight minutes of the first half to build an insurmountable 43-16 lead at halftime and cruised to an 81-55 victory Thursday night.

It was the fourth game in a row that Illinois (12-3, 3-1 in Big Ten) held their opponents to 26 points or less in the first half; Missouri and Southern (25 points each) and Penn State (26 points) all fell behind early to an Illinois team that seems much more connected defensively than they did earlier in the season.

Keaton Wagler continued his outstanding play with 17 points and seven rebounds. The freshman guard has scored in double figures for the seventh consecutive outing and the 12th in 15 games this season.

Tomislav Ivisic chipped in 14 and Andrej Stojakovic scored 12 along with eight rebounds. Jake Davis hit four three-pointers in the first half to score all 12 of his points before intermission.

Kaden Powers scored a team-high 12 points for Rutgers (8-8, 1-4 in Big Ten).

Illinois also held an opponent to under 30 percent shooting from three-point range for the fourth straight game, forcing the Scarlet Knights into 6-of -22 shooting (27 percent) and won the rebounding battle 45-23.

The Illini travel to face 19th ranked Iowa on Sunday (11am CT, FOX). Illinois has won nine of the last ten meetings with the Hawkeyes with the only loss coming in an 81-79 defeat in Iowa City in February 2022.

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