No. 9 Illinois beats No. 5 Nebraska, its 2nd win over a Top 5 team in 9 days

LINCOLN, Neb. — The Keaton Wagler show didn’t arrive until the second half Sunday at No. 5 Nebraska.

Eight days earlier, the Illinois freshman drew national attention when he scored 46 points to help the Illini upset then-No. 4 Purdue. But he had just five points in the first half Sunday in front of 15,513 fans, most dressed in white, at Pinnacle Bank Arena.

Wagler didn’t fret as the Illini went into halftime trailing by six.

“I knew I had to step it up. But I wasn’t worried,” Wagler said. “I’ve had low-scoring first halves before, and I’ve come out and scored a lot in the second half. I just kept doing what I always do and let the game come to me.”

No. 9 Illinois rode the performances of 7-foot Croatian twins Tomislav Ivišić and Zvonimir Ivišić in the first half, and Wagler came through in the second half with 23 of his 28 points to help Illinois pull off a 78-69 win. Wagler shot 7 for 15 from the field and 10 for 12 from the free-throw line and added five rebounds and five assists.

“Then Keaton did Keaton things,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said.

It was the second win over a Top 5 team for the Illini in nine days, and it extended their winning streak to 11 games. Illinois had never beaten two Top 5 teams in consecutive road games before. The Illini also beat Washington at home on Wednesday.

Illinois (19-3, 10-1) moved into a tie for first place in the crowded Big Ten with No. 2 Michigan (20-1, 10-1). Nebraska (20-2, 9-2), which lost to Michigan on Tuesday, dropped into a tie for second place with No. 7 Michigan State (19-3, 9-2). Illinois plays at Michigan State on Feb. 7 and against Michigan at home on Feb. 27.

Underwood said he thought his team showed toughness and smarts in pulling off wins at Purdue’s Mackey Arena and in front of a Nebraska crowd fired up about a men’s basketball resurgence in Lincoln. And the Illini did it with veteran leader Kylan Boswell on the bench with a fractured right hand.

“I think we showed that we are a really good team, that we are really calm in tough moments,” Tomislav said of Illinois’ last nine days. “Really smart team, makes good decisions. I just feel like we are a team that knows what to do and knows how to get things done in certain moments.”

Tomislav had 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Jake Davis added 13 points.

With Wagler getting off to a slow scoring start, Illinois leaned on the Ivišić brothers to carry them through much of the first half in a big lineup. Underwood said the Illini are able to utilize their big lineups because of the ability of 6-foot-9 freshman forward David Mirković to handle the ball.

“Nebraska is a difficult team to play against, but we figured we had some matchup advantages we can use,” Tomislav said. “Of course, everybody can shoot, all five players, and we just tried to manipulate the floor to be guarded by someone who we wanted in that moment.”

Illinois had lost to Nebraska 83-80 in Champaign on Dec. 13, but Underwood said he thought the Illini have shown growth on defense since that loss and displayed connectivity Sunday.

The Illini mixed in zone defense in the first half to try to hinder the Cornhuskers’ ball movement, and Underwood was pleased with how they tried to take away layups, with the Ivišić twins helping that cause.

“Their length in the paint bothered us,” Nebraska coach Fred Hoiberg said. “It took away some of our cutting. I thought early we curled, we got in there, we made some plays, we sprayed it out and had some really good looks. And we got in a really good rhythm late in the half. And second half, we couldn’t get those same looks.”

Nebraska didn’t shoot particularly well early in the first half, starting 4 for 15. But Braden Frager — back after missing two games with an ankle injury — kept the Huskers in it with his 3-point shooting.

Then Nebraska had a stretch of making 7 of 9 shots — five of them 3-pointers — to take a 39-33 lead into halftime. They were 11 for 20 from 3-point range in the half, and Frager and Pryce Sandfort had four apiece.

But Nebraska’s shooting cooled off in the second half, as they went 4 for 15 from 3-point range. Frager finished with 20 points, including six 3-pointers and Sandfort had 14 points.

“It was definitely our communication and finding players in transition,” Wagler said. “They had a lot of transition points on us in the first game. That was our big emphasis, finding shooters in transition, and knowing our personnel, knowing who’s going to want to shoot the ball a lot, who’s going to want to drive and stuff like that.”

Rienk Mast, Nebraska’s 6-10 forward, missed the Huskers’ 75-72 loss to Michigan with an illness that put him in the emergency room the following day due to dehydration. Hoiberg said he thought Mast, who had five points, played “like he was in the ER until 3 in the morning.”

Meanwhile, Wagler helped Illinois pull away, hitting three 3-pointers in the second half but also getting physical on drives to the basket. He drew 12 fouls, and all 10 of his points from free throws came in the second half.

Hoiberg said Wagler has been playing like a first-team All-American. Illinois said he is the first NCAA Division I player over the last 20 seasons with multiple 25-plus-point games in road wins over Top 5 teams.

But he also received some help on a key 10-0 Illinois run in the second half. Davis hit a 3 at the shot clock buzzer after Tomislav sent a volleyball-like pass his way, and Mirković followed with a drive.

Wagler then made two free throws and hit a 3-pointer while falling backward to give Illinois a 63-52 lead.

Nebraska cut Illinois’ lead to 76-69 with 42.4 seconds left on Mast’s layup, but Andrej Stojaković made a pair of free throws with 38 seconds to play to help seal it.

“It gives us a lot of confidence being able to come on the road and knowing we can win these games,” Wagler said. “Just staying poised, staying together.”

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