On Saturday, April 4th, the University of Illinois took on the University of Connecticut for the NCAA tournament men’s basketball semifinals.
Illinois lost this game 62-71, but let’s take a look at how Illinois made this historic run and the highs and lows of their season.
Illinois came into the year ranked 17th in the preseason AP poll but had very high hopes of winning the Big 10 title and making it to the National Championship in April.
Illinois’s roster consisted of many key returning players, such as Kylan Boswell, Tomislav Ivisic, Ben Humrichous, and Jake Davis.
However, the story of this roster was the transfers and freshmen that made this team into a Final Four caliber team.
Two junior transfers were essential in Illinois’s success.
Andrej Stojakovic (son of NBA star Peja Stojakovic) and Zvonomir Ivisic (brother of Tomislav) were players who had a huge impact off the bench late in the season.
Freshmen Keaton Wagler and David Mirkovic were possibly the most important players on the roster this year, stepping up and leading the team throughout the year.
Specifically, Wagler, averaging 18 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game, made the All-American 2nd team and won the Jerry West shooting guard of the year award.
Wagler’s success was very unexpected, as Wagler was a 4-star recruit coming out of high school and the 143rd overall-ranked player in the country.
Illinois started the season going 9-2 in non-conference play with big wins over Texas Tech and Tennessee and losses to UConn and Alabama.
In the first part of Big 10 play, Illinois went a dominant 11-1, with their only loss being to a very good Nebraska team.
Later on in this stretch, Illinois got a revenge win against Nebraska and a huge win against Purdue, where Wagler set several records as he scored the 2nd most points by a male freshman ever with 46 and won National Player of the Week.
To round out Big 10 play, Illinois began to cool off, going 4-4 with three overtime losses to Michigan State, Wisconsin, and UCLA.
This was a heartbreaking stretch for Illinois fans, as before this stretch, they were ranked #5 in the AP poll and were hoping to get a one seed in the NCAA tournament.
To begin postseason play, Illinois snagged the fourth seed in the Big 10 tournament, which means they got a triple-bye.
Finally, they played Wisconsin on March 13th to go to the Big 10 tournament semi-finals.
Unfortunately, they lost this game in another heartbreaking overtime loss, with critics wondering how reliable they would be in the NCAA tournament.
Illinois was rewarded, though, with a 3-seed in March Madness and had to play UPenn in the first round, who they beat 105-70, and moved on to play VCU in the second round.
Illinois sent them home with a score of 76-55 and moved on to the 3rd round, where they would take on Houston, the preseason #2 and their toughest challenge yet.
However, this didn’t matter to Illinois as they beat Houston 65-55 and showed a great display of defense, which was not this team’s strength throughout the season.
Illinois moved on to the Elite 8, where they took on Iowa, whom they beat 75-69 earlier in the season.
In a tight game, they beat Iowa, 71-59, again flexing their defensive muscles, and advancing to the Final Four, where they took on UConn once again.
This was a revenge game not only from earlier this year, but from 2024, where UConn beat Illinois in the Elite 8 and went on to win the championship.
The Final Four game in Indianapolis was led by UConn the whole game, but in the 4th quarter, Illinois pulled the game to within four points.
UConn ended up winning, but this year was an amazing stepping stone for the Illinois basketball program to build on.
Illinois has four talented freshmen coming to Champaign next year, including Quintin Coleman, a top-20-ranked player in the class of 2026.
They also have one talented transfer confirmed in this year’s class, with others rumored to come.
Illinois ended the year ranked #5 in the AP poll, with many broken records and a great year for the history books.
