Brad Underwood Has Latest Injury Update on Illinois Guard Kylan Boswell

Illinois missed senior guard Kylan Boswell's defense and athleticism Tuesday night, as Wisconsin guards Nick Boyd and John Blackwell combined for 49 points in the Badgers' 92-90 overtime win at the State Farm Center in Champaign.

That marked the second straight loss for the Illini (20-4), following five consecutive wins without Boswell, who hasn't played since Jan. 17 against Minnesota because of a broken hand. Illinois remains in second place in the Big Ten standings at 11-3 but fell two games behind No. 2 Michigan after Tuesday's loss.

If the Illini are going to catch the Wolverines, who come to Champaign on Feb. 27, they could certainly use Boswell. The team initially targeted a mid-February return, and that appears possible.

Illinois coach Brad Underwood said Monday that Boswell would practice later that day, following conditioning and individual work he had done Sunday. He added that Boswell was able to shoot the ball, was "progressing pretty nicely" and had an appointment scheduled for later in the week.

Following Tuesday's loss to Wisconsin, Underwood was asked when he will have an update on Boswell, and shared details about his recovery process.

"Not soon enough," Underwood said. "I don't know. I'm not trying to be a smart-ass. I think he goes here tomorrow or Thursday, I think. We're putting him through workouts. [Strength and conditioning coach Adam Fletcher] said he had his best day on the force plates that he has ever had in his career, so he's in really good shape.

"He's running every day. Now it's just a matter of taking the bumps and the bruises that go along with contact on a basketball court. So we'll hope to get some of that stuff done here in the next few days, if he's cleared."

Boswell, the team's second-leading scorer at 14.3 points per game, was also seen playing one-on-one with a fair amount of contact before Tuesday's game.

#illini guard Kylan Boswell getting a good workout in pregame. Using that right hand quite well. pic.twitter.com/93wQ2lkNsC
— Jeremy Werner (@JWerner247) February 10, 2026

Illinois had a quick turnaround from Saturday's loss at Michigan State to Tuesday's home game against Badgers. But the Illini will have four full days off of game action and don't have to travel ahead of Sunday's 11 a.m. CT tipoff against Indiana, which could help Boswell's prospects of returning.

The team also didn't have guard Andrej Stojakovic on Tuesday after he suffered an ankle sprain against Michigan State, leaving a six-man rotation against the Badgers in a second straight overtime game. So beyond Boswell, an extended break could help the entire team in the heart of a grueling Big Ten schedule.

"Health, rest and what we call 'us days,' where you can actually work on you," Underwood said. "You realize we don't work on us. We don't add things. We're very, very vanilla in what we do right now because you got two-day preps and your mandatory day off by NCAA rules.

"So it's just been pretty fast. So it'll be nice to just kind of catch your breath for a minute. It's not a real long break, but things slow down. I think we've got six games or seven games left over the next month, and heavily front-end loaded. Now we get to kind of work on some things."