No. 20 Illinois barely breaks a sweat against Southern

Field Level Media|published: Mon 29th December, 17:23 2025

Dec 13, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini head coach Brad Underwood before the first half against the Nebraska Cornhuskers at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

Jake Davis scored 15 points and Keaton Wagler posted an 11-point, 10-assist double-double as No. 20 Illinois routed Southern 90-55 on Monday in Champaign, Ill.

Zvonimir Ivisic (13 points), Tomislav Ivisic (11) and David Mirkovic (11) also scored in double figures for the Fighting Illini, who led by as many as 36.

Playing for the first time since a 44-point defeat at Baylor on Dec. 21, Southern (4-9) lost its fifth straight game.

Illinois had been idle since topping Missouri 91-48 in St. Louis on Dec. 22 and nearly held an opponent under 50 points for the second successive game.

The Jaguars shot 34.8% overall and 3 of 14 from 3 point range. That compared to 51.7% and 14 of 34 for the Fighting Illini (10-3).

Michael Jacobs paced Southern with 11 points on 3-for-16 shooting from the field. Malek Abdelgowad followed with 10 points.

Davis went 5-for-6 from long range while Zvonimir Ivisic was 3-for-5.

Wagler drilled a 3-pointer on the opening possession and the Fighting Illini never looked back - nor trailed.

Abdelgowad answered with a jumper for the Jaguars on their first trip down the floor but Illinois hardly sweat, racing to a double-digit lead midway through the first half.

The Fighting Illini briefly faced adversity in the first few minutes when Kylan Boswell landed awkwardly when leaping for a rebound and rolled his ankle. He went to the locker room but returned to play 23 minutes, contributing eight points.

Illinois stretched the advantage to 21 in the first half and took a 46-25 advantage into the break behind consistency from beyond the arc. Six different players connected from deep in the first half, with Davis setting the tone with a 3-for-4 effort.

After a Tomislav Ivisic dunk put Illinois ahead 27-12 at the 6:35 mark of the first half, the hosts closed with five 3s before the half ended, including makes from Davis and Boswell in a 30-second span.

Illinois finished plus-19 (45-26) on the glass. Tomislav Ivisic and Wagler both grabbed seven rebounds. Zvonimir Ivisic added three blocks.

Wagler has posted a double-double in two of the past three games.

Illinois took a 3-0 lead in the all-time series.

--Field Level Media

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