No. 9 Illinois hosts Washington following Wagler’s 46-point game

By Canadian Press on January 28, 2026.

Washington Huskies (11-9, 3-6 Big Ten) at Illinois Fighting Illini (17-3, 8-1 Big Ten)

Champaign, Illinois; Thursday, 9 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 9 Illinois takes on Washington after Keaton Wagler scored 46 points in Illinois’ 88-82 win against the Purdue Boilermakers.

The Fighting Illini are 10-1 on their home court. Illinois is second in the Big Ten in rebounding with 38.7 rebounds. David Mirkovic paces the Fighting Illini with 8.4 boards.

The Huskies are 3-6 in Big Ten play. Washington ranks third in the Big Ten with 11.0 offensive rebounds per game led by Hannes Steinbach averaging 4.2.

Illinois averages 85.5 points, 12.2 more per game than the 73.3 Washington gives up. Washington averages 10.7 more points per game (79.0) than Illinois allows to opponents (68.3).

The Fighting Illini and Huskies square off Thursday for the first time in Big Ten play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Wagler is scoring 17.5 points per game and averaging 5.0 rebounds for the Fighting Illini. Andrej Stojakovic is averaging 12.8 points and 5.9 rebounds over the last 10 games.

Steinbach is averaging 17.5 points and 11.2 rebounds for the Huskies. Quimari Peterson is averaging 1.9 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.

LAST 10 GAMES: Fighting Illini: 9-1, averaging 82.3 points, 37.6 rebounds, 15.1 assists, 3.4 steals and 4.7 blocks per game while shooting 46.4% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 66.2 points per game.

Huskies: 4-6, averaging 73.3 points, 32.6 rebounds, 13.6 assists, 5.8 steals and 4.0 blocks per game while shooting 44.2% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.1 points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.

The Associated Press

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