Three Key Observations From Illinois Basketball's 88-80 Win Over Ohio State

The Illinois men's basketball team has now played 10 games in this 2025-26 season and still has no earthly clue what its identity is. Lucky for the Illini, neither does anyone else.

On a night when Ohio State coach Jake Diebler emptied his defensive playbook trying to find the answer to bottling up all of Illinois' panoply of scoring options, the 13th-ranked Illini managed to call the right number at the right time often enough down the stretch in an 88-80 win over the Buckeyes at Schottenstein Center in Columbus on Tuesday.

And the freshmen would lead them. Guard Keaton Wagler (23 points, five assists) hardly struck a sour note in a team-high 39 minutes, and forward David Mirkovic barelled to 22 points (including four threes) and nine rebounds as OSU appeared to focus its efforts on keeping center Tomislav Ivisic from ever getting going. Wing Andrej Stojakovic scored 13 of his 17 in the second half to help the Illini (8-2, 1-0 Big Ten) pull away from the Buckeyes (7-2, 1-1).

Here are three more instant observations from Illinois' first Big Ten win and first true road triumph of the season:

1. Shooting cures all ills

Let's cut to the chase here: The Illini did not play particularly well in Columbus. The "connectivity" that coach Brad Underwood cherishes was mostly absent – especially in the second half, when Illinois shot just 34.6 percent and had just three assists (against six turnovers). Again leaning into their worst instincts too often, the Illini got bogged down in late offense, agonizingly little off-ball movement and settling on deep perimeter jumpers.

David Mirkovic from deep for 3 👌 @IlliniMBB

📺: Peacock pic.twitter.com/24gidJYBVK
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) December 10, 2025

Of course, it helps when they go down. Illinois shot 11-for-27 (40.7 percent) on threes for the game, and – crucially – 29-for-32 (90.6 percent) on free throws. Shooting was inarguably the difference-maker for the Illini on Tuesday, but there will be other nights ahead when the rim shrinks and their lack of offensive creativity and clunky execution will also make the difference. We're getting as tired of seeing it as you must be of hearing us point it out, but isolation turn-taking (even with Illinois' individual scoring talent) isn't a reliable source of offense.

2. Keaton Wagler doesn't get rattled

Watching Wagler, nothing bowls you over. He's a good shooter. He's tougher inside than he looks, grabbing loose boards and using good footwork, angles and a surprisingly sharp shoulder to knife in shots around the low post. He makes his free throws.

Not afraid of the B1G stage.

In his first league game, Keaton drops a career-high 23 points! pic.twitter.com/DARhyBA7YR
— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) December 10, 2025

And that's just it: Wagler just makes the right plays and finishes as he should. He takes almost nothing off the table with bad reads, false steps or poor shot selection. At one point against the Buckeyes, he made a long back pass at a tough angle spinning over his right shoulder that sailed past its intended target, and it was so out of character that it would have been less shocking if he had dropped his shorts at midcourt. Even in his first Big Ten matchup and road game, Wagler played like a young chess prodigy – never fazed and always a couple moves ahead of the other guy.

3. Rebounding is not optional for Illinois

Illini rebounder — Ohio State Buckeyes forward Brandon Noel (14) makes contact with Illinois Fighting Illini forward David Mirkovic (0) as he attempts a rebound beside Ohio State Buckeyes guard Bruce Thornton (2) during the second half of the NCAA men's basketball game in Columbus on Dec. 9, 2025. Ohio State lost 86-78. | Adam Cairns/Columbus Dispatch / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

For the second straight game, the Illini looked mortal on the glass for at least a half – and on Tuesday it came against a Buckeyes team that had lost the rebounding battle in all three of its other games against high-major opponents. Illinois ended with a 37-30 edge on the boards, but the energy and scrap that had been there over the last five or so minutes against Tennessee was missing. Particularly against a defense that played so much zone, there was no excuse for the Illini to be neck-and-neck in the rebounding column with the Buckeyes for much of the game.

Nebraska, up next for Illinois back in Champaign on Saturday (3 p.m. CT, Peacock), has been a fun little sleeper story so far this season. But the matchup starts a long stretch of games in which the Illini should be favored. If they get accustomed to coasting and winning games without their best efforts boxing out and chasing down misses, there will be a reckoning when Purdue, Michigan State and Michigan show up in the second half of the Big Ten calendar.