By IlliniGuys Staff

December 29, 2025

(Cover photo courtesy Illinois Athletics)

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - Bring on the Big Ten.

Jake Davis tied a career-high with five three-pointers off the bench and 20th ranked Illinois shook off some holiday rust to put away Southern 90-55 Monday afternoon.

It was the Illini's second straight rout as they pummeled Missouri 91-48 last Monday night in St. Louis to post the largest winning margin ever in the Braggin' Rights rivalry.

Illinois (10-3) led the visiting Jaguars wire-to-wire at State Farm Center, using three-pointers from Davis and David Mirkovic to open a 25-10 lead before the under-8 media timeout.  The Illini eased their way to a 46-25 halftime lead.

Keaton Wagler delivered his second career double-double with 11 points and 10 assists with seven rebounds and just one turnover. The star freshman has been spectacular since the Thanksgiving weekend loss to UConn in New York, hitting 50 percent of his three-point attempts while averaging more than 18 points per game with an assist-to-turnover ratio of nearly five to one (34 assists with seven turnovers).

Davis finished with a game-high 15 points, eclipsing the 13-point night he had in the season opener against Jackson State as the junior's top scoring effort in an Illini uniform. Zvonimir Ivisic scored 13 points in 13 minutes, including hitting a trio of three-pointers despite wearing a plexiglass face mask after suffering a broken nose against Missouri. Twin brother Tomislav and freshman forward David Mirkovic added 11 points each.

Southern (4-9) was led by Michael Jacobs, who scored just half of his 20.9 points per game average with 11 points on 3-of-16 shooting.

The game-after-Christmas rout has become an annual event for Illinois basketball. The last four contests have all been won by 30 points or more.

It's the final non-conference game of the season for the Illini, who now travel to Philadelphia to face Penn State at the historic Palestra on Saturday (6pm, BTN). Illinois is 1-1 in conference play, after winning at Ohio State and losing at home to then-23rd ranked Nebraska earlier this month.

Stay with IlliniGuys.com for complete postgame coverage.