The Secret to Illinois Basketball Guard Kylan Boswell's Defensive Success

One of the steady strengths of the Illinois defense, and the reason the Illini have been able to make certain strategic decisions that would be flirting with disaster for another team, has a name: Kylan Boswell.

A 6-foot-2 junior guard who grew up in Champaign but played his first two years of college ball at Arizona, has been a defensive revelation in his first season after transferring to Illinois. The numbers don't always do justice to his contributions, but he has left a trail of anxious and annoyed opposing scorers in his wake that says all you need to know about his sparticular set of skills.

On Tuesday, the assignment was Iowa's 6-foot-8 Payton Sandfort, who entered the game averaging 16.7 points and was held (mostly by Boswell) to seven points on 2-for-10 shooting. Against Duke, Boswell was the instigator behind Cooper Flagg's six-point, 1-for-4 first half. Earlier this season, Boswell held Alabama's Mark Sears scoreless and gave fits to Arkansas' Boogie Fland and an array of opposing offensive catalysts.

"There's nothing on that side of the ball that Kylan can't do," said Illini coach Brad Underwood after Illinois' 81-61 win over Iowa. "Physically, he's very gifted, so that gives us tremendous confidence in what he can do."

Those hands are just too quick 🙌@bambam_boz with the swipe and score!

2H 14:29 | Illini 44, Rutgers 47
📺: @BigTenNetwork pic.twitter.com/nu68S3wQBr
— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) February 6, 2025

But Boswell says it's his mentality, as much as anything else, that allows him to switch gears from matchup to matchup.

"Both are really good players," Boswell said of Flagg and Sandfort. "Of course, Cooper's got a different type of game than Payton, but I think for Payton, it's trying to not let him get the three-ball off. I feel like, today, [I tried] to make it as hard as I can for him. He's taller than me, too, so if he gets the ball high in his pocket, it's money usually. So just not letting him come off those pin-downs or get comfortable off the pick-and-roll is kind of my focus."

Underwood noted the difference between checking Flagg – a 6-foot-9 human springboard who is a handful just to stay in front of – and the sweet-shooting Sandfort, who is lethal coming off picks.

"And now ... to go chase guys off ball screens, his physical play allows him to do [both]," Underwood said of Boswell. "He's also really smart. And he's got great anticipation, he's got super-quick hands. It doesn't matter the position – kinda one through 4 – I'm all pretty good with him, because of his strength and his quickness, being able to guard just about anybody."