Keaton Wagler scored 19 points and No. 16 Illinois holds off No. 19 Iowa in 75-69 victory

By Canadian Press on January 11, 2026.

IOWA CITY, Iowa (AP) — Keaton Wagler scored 19 points, Andrej Stojakovic and Kylan Boswell each had 17 and No. 16 Illinois continued to win on the road in the Big Ten Conference, holding off No. 19 Iowa 75-69 on Sunday.

The Illini (13-3, 4-1) won their fifth consecutive game and stayed tied for third place in the conference. Three of Illinois’ wins in conference play have come on the road — the Illini also won at Ohio State and Penn State.

Illinois led 58-41 with 11:25 to play when the Hawkeyes (12-4, 2-3) began to rally. They got to within four points four times in the last two minutes of the game, including at 71-67 with 55 seconds left with a chance to cut the lead further, but Iowa’s Bennett Stirtz missed a layup.

Iowa made most of its run without Stirtz, its leading scorer this season at 18 points per game. Stirtz picked up his fourth foul with 11:36 to go and went to the bench for seven minutes. During that stretch the Hawkeyes outscored the Illini 18-10.

Tavion Banks led Iowa with 16 points. Tate Sage scored 13, Stirtz had 12 and Cooper Koch added 10.

Illinois controlled all of the first half. The Illini led 8-0 after the first three minutes, getting open shots while Iowa was struggling at the other end of the court. The Hawkeyes had four missed shots and a turnover on their opening five possessions.

NO. 25 UCF 73, CINCINNATI 72

ORLANDO, Fla. (AP) — Themus Fulks hit a jumper with 11 seconds left to give UCF a victory over Cincinnati.

Riley Kugel scored 19 points for the Knights, who held on after blowing a five-point lead with 2:22 to play. Fulks, who came in 13th in the country in assists at 6.6 per game, had 12 assists and six points.

The Bearcats had a chance to win, but Jalen Celestine’s 3-pointer at the buzzer missed off the back iron.

Jamichael Stillwell added 15 points for the Knights (13-2, 2-1 Big 12), and backup big man Jeremy Foumena had 12 points and eight rebounds.

Moustapha Thiam, who transferred from UCF to Cincinnati in the offseason, was booed on every touch and finished with a career-high 24 points on 10-of-15 shooting for the Bearcats (8-8, 0-3). Jizzle James added 14 points and Baba Miller had 13.

The game was tight throughout. UCF led 33-32 at halftime and its biggest second-half lead was six points. After the Knights went ahead 71-66 with 2:22 to play, Thiam responded with a hook shot and two free throws, and Miller’s layup with 30 seconds left put the Bearcats ahead 72-71.

The Associated Press