How to Watch No. 23 Nebraska Basketball at No. 13 Illinois with Preview, Breakdown, Streaming

For the blood ran and the people cheered.

That was the night for Berke Büyüktuncel, the Huskers' big man who encapsulated a potential season-changing point for the Nebraska men's basketball team. A 30-point win will do that for a team, especially when it comes to being the biggest win in the history of the series while also representing the 14th-straight win for NU, which extends the nation's leading winning streak and equals the school record for the best start to a season.

Rienk Mast led the Cornhuskers' charge with 17 points and 10 rebounds alongside teammates Braden Frager (15), Pryce Sandfort (14), and Sam Hoiberg, who joined him in double figures. The Badgers shot 34% from the field and were led by San Diego State transfer Nick Boyd with 20 points, but reigning Big Ten Player of the Week John Blackwell was held to a season-worst seven points and 1-for-11 shooting.

Big Ten play ramps up quickly for the Huskers, who enter hostile territory in their first true road test of the season in Saturday's battle at the Star Farm Center.

Here's all you need to know as Nebraska travels to Champaign for a top-25 matinee showdown.

How to Follow Along

Matchup: No. 23 Nebraska (10-0, 1-0 B1G) at No. 13 Illinois (8-2, 1-0 B1G)
When: Saturday, December 13, 2025.
Where: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois.
Time: 3 p.m. CST
Watch: Peacock
Listen: Huskers Radio Network and Affiliates

No. 13 Illinois Scout

Head Coach

Brad Underwood | 9th season at Illinois; 13th as Division I HC.
173-103 (.627) at Illinois; 282-130 (.684) Division I Career Record.
9x NCAA Tournament Apps., 1x Elite Eight.
2x B1G Tournament titles, 1x B1G Regular season, 3x Southland Tournament titles, 3x Southland Regular Season.
3x Southland Coach OTY, Joe B. Hall Coach OTY (2014), Coaches vs. Cancer Champion Award (2023.
Previous head coach at Oklahoma State, Stephen F. Austin, Daytona Beach CC and Dodge City CC.
Previous Assistant at South Carolina, Kansas State and Western Illinois.

2024 Record & Awards

22-13 (12-8 B1G, T-7th)
Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year.
All-B1G: 1x Third Team, 1x All-Freshman Team, 1x Honorable Mention.

All-Time Series

Illinois leads 23-9.
Jan. 30, 2025, last matchup, 80-74 (OT), NU.

Returning guard Kylan Boswell (4) leads Illinois in scoring with 15.7 points per game. | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Key Returners

Tomislav Ivisic | C | Jr. | 7-foot-1 center that's dropping in 11 points and 4.7 rebounds per game after missing the first few games of the season due to injury.
Kylan Boswell | G | Sr. | Illinois' leading scorer at over 15 points per game this season, while adding a team-high 35 assists and tied for second most at 14 made three-pointers.
Ben Humrichous | F | Gr. | One of two players with double-digit blocks (11) for Illinois and produces 6.7 points as a key reserve.
Jake Davis | F | Jr. | Average playing time has increased from nine to 14 minutes early in his junior campaign, but only adds 2.7 PPG.

Key Departures

Kasparas Jakucionis | G | NBA Draft | Lithuanian guard that was taken No. 20 overall in the first round by the Miami Heat after leading the Illini with 15 points per game.
Will Riley | F | NBA Draft | Joined Jakucionis as a freshman draftee from Illinois who went at No. 21 overall by the Utah Jazz; won Big Ten Sixth Man of the Year in his lone college season.
Tre White | G | Transferred to Kansas after averaging over 10 points and five rebounds per game last season as a 31-game starter for Illinois.
Morez Johnson Jr. | Transfer | Now at in-conference foe Michigan after an impactful freshman season off the bench with nearly seven points and rebounds per game.
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn | G | Transfer | Played in all 35 games last season for the Illini, but did so off the bench with a 5.9 PPG average; now at UNLV.

Kasparas Jakucionis (25) led Illinois with 15 points per game as a true freshman before getting drafted by the Miami Heat. — Miami Heat guard Kasparas Jakucionis (25) led Illinois with 15 points per game as a true freshman before being taken at No. 20 overall in the NBA Draft. | Jim Rassol-Imagn Images

Impact Transfers/Newcomers

Andrej Stojakovic | G | Jr. | Greece native who is second on the team with 15.1 PPG after transferring from Cal, where he emerged as the Bears' best player with a team-leading 17.9 PPG (6th in ACC) and 1.2 blocks.
Keaton Wagler | G | Fr. | Top recruit out of Kansas that's one of two Illini players averaging more than 30 minutes per game and has hit a team-high 17 threes with a 14.7 points per game average.
David Mirkovic | F | Fr. | Native of Montenegro who has competed in pro leagues around his country before moving to Champaign; 14.6 PPG and averaging a squad-leading 9.5 PPG.
Zvonimir Ivisic | C | Jr. | 7-for-2 center and Croatian native that transferred from Arkansas, chipping in eight points and five rebounds per game while starting in four of his 10 appearances.

Outlook

Ranked No. 4 in the Big Ten preseason poll, No. 13 Illinois had plenty of preseason hype to improve on its seventh-place showing last year, which marked the lowest finish from head coach Brad Underwood since his second season in 2018-2019. Brimming with young talent, the Illini saw it scatter over the offseason, which was headlined by true freshmen Kasparas Jakucionis (15 PPG) and Will Riley (B1G Sixth Man OTY) going No. 20 and No. 21 overall in the NBA Draft. Plus, impactful bench contributors Tre White (Kansas), Morez Johnson Jr. (Michigan), and Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn (UNLV) departed the program for greener pastures, leaving five holes in a nine-man rotation that lost in the Round of 32 in last year's NCAA Tournament.

Of the returners, senior guard Kylan Boswell has stepped up in a major way, taking over as the team's leading scorer at 15.7 PPG. 7-foor-1 junior center Tomislav Ivisic missed a few early-season games, but he's one of five double-figure scorers at over 11 points per game. A pair of reserves are back in similar roles for 2025-2026 in graduate student Ben Humrichous, who's a key net defender with 11 blocks, and Indiana native Jake Davis, who's seen his average playing time climb from nine to 14 minutes per game.

Illinois guard Andrej Stojakovic (2) developed into a star with Cal in the ACC before joining Underwood and Illinois. | Steve Roberts-Imagn Images

Underwood has made a concentrated effort to make Illinois an attractive spot for European talent, which is represented in his addition of Andrej Stojakovic from Cal. The Greece native led the Bears in scoring last year (17.9 PPG), and that's translated into a 15.1 PPG average so far in the Big Ten. Former top-150 recruit and true freshman Keaton Wagler is the team's leading three-pointer scorer (17 3P) and is pouring in 14.7 PPG. Rounding things out is David Mirkovic — a forward from Montenegro with 14.6 PPG — and Croatian center Ivisic Zvonimir, who stands at 7-foot-2 and transferred from Arkansas.

A hard-nosed team that's already battle-tested with wins over No. 11 Texas Tech and No. 14 Tennessee, while suffering defeats to No. 11 Alabama (86-90) and No. 5 UConn (61-74). Third in the Big Ten with 88.6 points per game, Illinois doesn't necessarily shoot the best, but they bully teams in the paint with 42.4 RPG (2nd in B1G) and 5.3 blocks per contest (3rd in B1G). Barring a blowout of epic proportions, NU's legitimacy as a good team shouldn't be put in doubt over a loss, which looks likely here. Give me Illinois to snap Nebraska's searing-hot streak, but I don't expect NU to roll over in Champaign.

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