Illinois Basketball Grows Up, Shows Out in Win Over Purdue

The young Illini wised up and hung tough for a pivotal regular-season-closing win over the Boilermakers

Mar 7, 2025; Champaign, Illinois, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini forward Will Riley (7) shoots the ball over Purdue Boilermakers guard Fletcher Loyer (2) during the first half at State Farm Center. Mandatory Credit: Ron Johnson-Imagn Images | Ron Johnson-Imagn Images

When it came time for Illinois' freshmen and first-year phenoms to put away childish things Friday against Purdue, they obliged.

Illini fans can only hope they never look back.

It took key plays from Will Riley, Kasparas Jakucionis and Tomislav Ivisic in the waning moments of what occasionally appeared to be a lost cause against the Boilermakers, but the Illini got the combination of dazzling playmaking and mature decision-making they needed to put away No. 18 Purdue for an 88-80 win at Champaign's State Farm Center.

Riley led Illinois (20-11, 12-8 Big Ten) with 21 points and laid the groundwork for the decisive finishing flourish with the game tied at 79 with 1:16 to play.

After the Illini had been repeatedly scattered, smothered and covered innside by Trey Kaufman-Renn (a game-high 29 points), Riley dug inside from a help position, poked the ball away from the posting big man and sent the Illinois offense in the other direction.

From there, Jakucionis – who had missed a couple of rushed stepback threes during a key earlier sequence – took one in rhythm and hit bottom to send the Illini up 82-79.

After Purdue guard and Big Ten Player of the Year frontrunner Braden Smith came up empty on his own three attempt, Jakucionis secured the rebound and wisely got the ball into the hands of Riley, who has been on a free throw bender (hitting 19 of his previous 22 attempts). With Riley sent to the line when the Boilers were forced to foul, he sank both.

Then came Ivisic, entering the game after Purdue's Fletcher Loyer cut the Illini lead to 84-80 on a free throw. When Loyer missed his second attempt, Ivisic hit his box out and stood his ground to pluck the rebound despite being bulldozed by a desperate Boiler. Ivisic calmly strode across the timeline and stroked a couple of his own free throws to ice the win.

State Farm Arena is BUMPIN' ‼️‼️ @IlliniMBB #B1GMBBall on FOX 📺 pic.twitter.com/FZspM4zq45

— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) March 8, 2025

It almost never happened. The Boilers (21-10, 13-7) gutted Illinois in the first half with seemingly endless Smith-and-Kaufman-Renn pick-and-roll – a problem the Illini never quite solved (though handled better down the stretch). Smith finished with 18 points and 12 assists, and Purdue shot 50.8 percent from the floor.

Fortunately for the Illini, Tre White picked up on Friday where he left off in Sunday's 19-point, 11-rebound performance in a win over Michigan. White followed up a perfect shooting effort in the second half against the Wolverines with 11 points (on 4-for-5 shooting) and six boards in the first half against Purdue.

All remaining 16 Big Ten teams have another game to play to settle the regular-season standings, but the Illini are already locked into a Thursday matchup and a single-bye game in next week's Big Ten Tournament at Gainbridge Fieldhouse in Indianapolis.

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