No. 9 Illinois (18-3, 9-1) continued its winning streak with a 75-66 victory against the Washington Huskies (11-10, 3-7). Illinois has now won its last ten games in a row, putting them tied in first place in the Big Ten.
Takeaways
Illinois: After a historic performance against Purdue, freshman guard Keaton Wagler was tasked with handling the Illini’s offense, but the Huskies did not allow the freshman to get any opportunities at the beginning of the game. The Illini got off to a slow start, missing their first seven shots, and found themselves down seven within the first four minutes of the game. But after two three-pointers by freshman forward David Mirkovic and 11 first-half points by Wagler, Illinois went into halftime up by seven.
Entering the second half, it started to become a tight battle as both teams started to match each other’s scoring. Mirkovic took control, scoring nine points in the first ten minutes of the second half. Heading into the final five minutes, Illinois began to grow its lead and kept the game away from Washington the entire second half.
Mirkovic ended the game with 19 points and six rebounds, while Wagler scored 22 points and eight assists to help Illinois get its 17th win of the season.
Washington: The Huskies applied pressure to the Illini early on, forcing them to rush their shots and take advantage of transition points to get the lead. But after the first timeout, the Huskies could not stop Illinois from taking the lead as they allowed 10 straight points for the Illini. From then on, Washington struggled to make any shots as they only made two three-pointers out of 12 attempts in the first half. Huskies sophomore guard Wesley Yates scored 10 points in the first half to keep Washington in the game.
Coming out of halftime, the Huskies found their rhythm behind the arc as they started to not miss from long range. But on the defensive end, they were unable to keep Illinois from scoring. Just as Washington would finally make consecutive shots, Illinois would respond, and the Huskies were unable to cut into the lead.
Freshman forward Hannes Steinbach led Washington in scoring with 15 points. Sophomore guard Zoom Diallo reached a double-double with 12 points and 10 assists.
Up Next
Illinois will go on the road to take on No. 5 Nebraska (20-1, 9-1) in hopes of regaining some winning momentum to start the new month. Tipoff is set for Sunday, February 1st at 5:00 p.m.