Keaton Wagler scores 17, No. 16 Illinois defeats Rutgers 81-55

By Canadian Press on January 8, 2026.

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) — Keaton Wagler scored 17 points and pulled down seven rebounds and Tomislav Ivisic had 14 points to lead No. 16 Illinois to an 81-55 victory over Rutgers on Thursday night.

Andrej Stojakovic had 12 points and eight rebounds, Jake Davis scored a dozen points and David Mirkovich grabbed eight rebounds for the Illini (12-3, 3-1 Big Ten), who won their fourth straight.

Illinois was 18 of 21 at the free-throw line. The Illini lead the Big Ten and are No. 3 in the country in free-throw percentage.

Kaden Powers scored 12 points and Harun Zrno had 11 points for Rutgers (8-8, 1-4).

Illinois went on a 20-0 run in the final 7 1/2 minutes of the first half and led 43-16 at halftime. Davis scored all 12 of his points on four 3-pointers in the first half, just four fewer points than the Scarlet Knights.

Rutgers shot 21% from the floor in the opening half (6 of 28) including 2 of 13 on 3s and was 2 of 6 on free throws.

Tarik Francis, Rutgers’ leading scorer, had an off night. He scored six points on 3 of 10 shooting while playing just 17 minutes after averaging 25 points in the Scarlet Knights’ previous four games.

Francis has had two 30-point games this season. He’s the only Big Ten player in the last 10 seasons with multiple 30-point games off the bench in the same season.

Illinois improved to 9-0 at home vs. Rutgers, 8-0 in Big Ten games since the Scarlet Knights joined the conference in 2015. The Illini are 14-5 overall against Rutgers, although the teams split their previous eight games.

Up next

Rutgers: Home vs. Northwestern on Sunday.

Illinois: Plays Sunday at No. 19 Iowa.

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Steve Stein, The Associated Press