Keaton Wagler produced 22 points and eight assists to lead No. 9 Illinois to a 75-66 Big Ten victory over Washington on Thursday night in Champaign, Ill.
David Mirkovic contributed 19 points and Ben Humrichous added 14 points off the bench for No. 9 Illinois (18-3, 9-1 Big Ten), which won its 10th in a row to join Michigan, Michigan State and Nebraska atop the Big Ten at the season’s midpoint.
Hannes Steinbach racked up 15 points and 12 rebounds to earn his 13th double-double for Washington (11-10, 3-7), which lost to a Top 12 team for the fourth time in five games. Wesley Yates added 13 points and Zoom Diallo posted 12 points and a career-high 10 assists.
After scoring 46 points Saturday at No. 4 Purdue to break the Big Ten freshman single-game record as well as the national record for points on the road against a Top 10 opponent, Wagler received a huge roar from Illinois fans during pregame introductions.
Then he received massive attention from Washington’s aggressive, overplaying defense. On the game’s first possession, Steinbach roamed over to help a teammate and swatted Wagler’s drive. Illinois went on to miss its first seven shots as Washington seized a 7-0 lead.
Bryson Tucker threw down an alley-oop dunk and Steinbach slammed in transition before Wagler finally got the Illini on the board with a 25-footer. Illinois reeled off 10 straight points to take the lead for good as the Huskies misfired on nine shots in a row.
But Washington hung close by slowing the nation’s most efficient offense. Not only did the Illini go 12 of 29 from the field (41.4%) in the first half, the nation’s No. 3 free-throw shooting team hit just 4 of 9 at the line. Illinois settled for a 33-26 halftime lead when Wagler drove for a layup just before the horn.
Both teams heated up instantly in the second half. The Huskies drilled their first five shots while the Illini hit 5 of 7. Wagler’s drive for a finger roll gave Illinois a 47-37 lead with 15:34 to go – the game’s first double-digit lead.
Washington pulled within five on four occasions, but never got closer despite limiting Illinois to 42.9% percent shooting and forging a 34-34 tie on the boards with the nation’s No. 5 team in rebounding margin (+11.2 per game).
