Illinois' Brad Underwood Sums Up Kylan Boswell in Two Words After Northwestern Win

Illinois' Kylan Boswell, an experienced senior guard whose versatility affects games in countless ways, has been labeled many things in his career. (Memorably, Texas Tech coach Grant McCasland referred to Boswell as a “stump” – and somehow managed to do it in a complimentary way.)

But there has perhaps never been a time a coach was more adamant about the most fitting way to describe Boswell as his own head coach, Brad Underwood, was Wednesday night.

Kylan Boswell's defensive versatility shines in Illinois win

“All caps: PROBLEM SOLVER,” Underwood said in the postgame press conference after Boswell helped push Illinois to a 79-68 win against Northwestern in Evanston. We got you, coach. Coming through loud and clear.

“He solves problems," Underwood went on, gushing over Boswell's work against Wildcats forward and national scoring leader Nick Martinelli. "We put him on Cooper Flagg last year and he did a really good job. But to have a player that strong, that athletic, that committed, that dedicated fighting him ... which he did to a guy who gives up size and probably just as physical as any player in the league."

Martinelli, who came into the matchup on a five-game streak of scoring 25 points or more, is all of 6-foot-7 and 225 pounds. And as Underwood pointed out, few players are more physical.

But the (maybe) 6-foot-2, 215-pound Boswell wasn’t deterred – and certainly wasn’t intimidated. He has already seen – and slowed – the 6-foot-8 JT Toppin, of Texas Tech, so taking on the task of keeping Martinelli at bay wasn’t a foreign challenge.

Pushing Martinelli off his spots, preventing him from making catches in the post and getting extremely physical while alternating his feet to throw Martinelli off his rhythm and staying active with quick hands, Boswell had Martinelli’s head spinning.

As gifted scorers often do, Martinelli still got his. He finished with 20 points on 5-for-12 shooting – an “off” night for the talented nylon-finder. But, fortunately for Martinelli, he had a fellow friend in guard Jayden Reed, who had a very on night – until he didn’t.

Although Reed finished with 28 points on 9-for-15 shooting, he too slowed down once Boswell was switched on to him. At 5-foot-10, Reed is nine inches shorter than Martinelli – but Boswell ensured that he couldn’t create any space or find any breathing room.

"It’s just nice to have a guy that versatile," Underwood said of Boswell. "He solves a lot of problems for us."

Boswell just so happened to score 13 points (6-for-11 shooting) on the other end and dish out six assists. More than just a problem solver on defense, he also creates more than his share of trouble on the other end.

Kylan Boswell with the and-1 for @IlliniMBB 😤

No. 13 @IlliniMBB on top at half vs. Northwestern 🙌 pic.twitter.com/voHw7xfk5O
— Big Ten Men's Basketball (@B1GMBBall) January 15, 2026

“And then you look down and he’s playing 37 minutes because of back issue with Keaton [Wagler],” Underwood said. "He’s driving the ball to the basket. He’s getting fouled. He’s assisting. I tip my hat to him because he’s playing at an extremely high level and doing it on both ends."