Keaton Wagler’s Record Night Lifts Illinois Over Purdue

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – In a game that will be talked about for years to come, freshman Keaton Wagler delivered a jaw-dropping, history-making performance, pouring in 46 points and smashing multiple records to lead No. 11 Illinois past No. 4 Purdue, 88-82, on Saturday at Mackey Arena.

Wagler, just 18 years old and already rewriting the record books, was unstoppable from the opening tip. He scored the first 14 points for Illinois, setting the tone for an afternoon that would see him torch Purdue’s defense and the Mackey Arena crowd alike. By the end, Wagler had set the all-time opponent scoring record for the storied venue, as well as the Illinois freshman single-game scoring mark. His nine made three-pointers also broke the Illinois program record, previously held by six different players.

“Keaton was unfazed by the environment,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said postgame. “He played with poise and confidence, and the team fed off his energy.”

The Illini, now 17-3 overall and 8-1 in Big Ten play, kept pace in a fiercely competitive conference race, tying for second with Michigan and Michigan State, just behind undefeated Nebraska. Purdue, who entered the contest 17-2 and atop the league standings, dropped to 17-3 and 7-2, tumbling from the top of the conference to fifth place in just five days.

Purdue looked to be in control early, building an 11-point lead late in the first half. Senior guard Braden Smith was dynamic, finishing with 27 points and a game-high 12 assists. But Illinois refused to let the Boilermakers pull away. In the final minute before halftime, Zvonimir Ivisic and Wagler each buried clutch three-pointers, trimming the deficit to just four, 43-39, at the break.

Coming out of the locker room, the Illini caught fire. Wagler scored the first five points of the second half, and Jake Davis capped a 7-0 run to give Illinois its first lead since early in the contest. That surge ballooned into a 13-0 run, flipping the game’s momentum. From there, the contest turned into a high-wire act, featuring 12 lead changes in the second half alone. Neither team led by more than five until the closing seconds.

“It was punch-counterpunch, and we saved our biggest swing for the final minutes,” Underwood noted. Indeed, the Illini’s late-game heroics were fueled not just by Wagler, but also by timely threes from Tomislav Ivisic, Jake Davis, and David Mirkovic. Davis’s deep ball with 2:29 left gave Illinois a 76-75 advantage—a lead they would not relinquish. Mirkovic’s free throws with just five seconds remaining sealed the deal, sending the Illinois bench into jubilation and silencing the Mackey faithful.

Wagler’s final stat line was staggering: 46 points on 13-for-17 shooting, including 9-for-11 from beyond the arc and 11-of-13 from the free-throw line, along with four assists. His 46 points were the most ever scored by an opponent at Mackey Arena, the most in a road win over a top-10 opponent in AP Poll history, and tied for the second-most in Illinois program history, trailing only Dave Downey’s 53-point outburst in 1963. The previous Illinois freshman record was 35, set by Giorgi Bezhanishvili in 2019.

“He’s got a special feel for the game,” Underwood said. “The moment was never too big for him.”

Wagler, a 6-foot-6 guard from Shawnee, Kansas, was Kansas’s top player in the Class of 2025 and led his high school to back-to-back state titles. He committed to Illinois in September 2024 and has quickly become a centerpiece for the Illini. Coming into the game, Wagler was averaging 17.5 points and shooting 43.5% from three-point range. His previous collegiate best was 23 points, set against Ohio State in December.

“I just wanted to help my team win,” Wagler said, downplaying his own heroics. “My teammates kept finding me in good spots, and the shots kept falling.”

Illinois’s supporting cast also stepped up. David Mirkovic finished with 12 points and eight rebounds, including several key plays down the stretch. Tomislav Ivisic added seven points and eight boards, while Jake Davis contributed eight points, three rebounds, and two assists in his fifth start of the year, filling in for the injured Kyle Boswell. The Illini were without reserve center Jason Jakstys, sidelined by injury, and Boswell, who is out for at least a month with a fractured hand.

Illinois’s shooting was the difference-maker. The Illini tied the program record with 18 made three-pointers (on 38 attempts), compared to Purdue’s 7-of-19. Over the last six games, Illinois has made at least 10 threes in each contest, posting a 13-2 record when hitting double digits from deep. The team also dominated the glass, outrebounding Purdue 33-19, including a 13-3 edge on the offensive boards, and converted those extra opportunities into 18 second-chance points.

Purdue, for its part, shot a blistering 63% in the first half but couldn’t maintain that pace as Illinois’s defense tightened. Trey Kaufman-Renn added 12 points for the Boilermakers, while freshman Omer Mayer went 3-for-6 from deep, continuing his hot shooting since Christmas. Braden Smith, despite briefly leaving the game after rolling his ankle, returned to lead a late Purdue rally, but the Illini’s clutch shooting proved too much to overcome.

The win was Illinois’s highest-ranked road victory since defeating No. 2 Michigan in March 2021 and snapped a three-game skid at Mackey Arena. It marked the Illini’s first road win over Purdue since January 2020 and extended their current winning streak to nine games—their longest since the 2012-13 season. Illinois is now 5-0 in Big Ten road games for the first time since 2004-05 and holds a six-game conference road win streak dating back to last season.

For head coach Brad Underwood, Saturday’s triumph was especially sweet—it was his 100th Big Ten win, making him just the fourth active coach in the league to reach that milestone. Since 2019-20, Illinois leads the Big Ten in both overall league wins and road victories, a testament to the program’s resurgence under Underwood.

Illinois will look to keep its momentum rolling as it returns home to face Washington on Thursday. With Wagler’s star shining brighter than ever and a team firing on all cylinders, the Illini have announced themselves as serious contenders in the Big Ten—and maybe beyond. One thing’s for sure: after this record-breaking night, nobody will be overlooking Illinois or its sensational freshman guard anytime soon.