WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Keaton Wagler returned to the visiting locker room at Mackie Arena on Saturday afternoon, he had taken a moment to be embraced by his entire team following an electric win against No. 4 Purdue with a handful of his teammates, 88-82. A few moments later he jogged as he left the […]
WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Keaton Wagler returned to the visiting locker room at Mackie Arena on Saturday afternoon, he had taken a moment to be embraced by his entire team following an electric win against No. 4 Purdue with a handful of his teammates, 88-82. A few moments later he jogged as he left the court, receiving cheers from a few remaining fans, but he hardly flinched.
No smile. no wave.
A cold and impressive display of self control given the historical nature of his performance.
Wagler scored a mindboggling 46 points, the most by an opposing player in Mackie Arena history and the most points scored in a road win over a top-10 opponent in AP poll history. Perhaps more importantly, he was — for the most part — the singular and biggest reason Illinois was able to pull off such an exhilirating win on Saturday.
“I thought Keaton was like nothing I’ve seen in my 39-years, especially in a top-5 or top-10 matchup,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said. “Keaton really made it look easy… He just took what the defense gave him.”
As Underwood glowed about his young, even baby-faced freshman, Wagler sat next to him, once again, without an ounce of emotion to be found.
Wagler smashed the previous Freshman record for most points scored in a game by an Illini. The previous record was held by Giorgi Bezhanishvili when he dropped 35-points on Rutgers in 2019. His record performance tied him up with Andy Kaufmann for second-most points scored by an Illini in the history of the program.
“It’s a crazy thing, that even I, never thought that I would do,” Wagler said after the game. “I just let the game come to me, and it was my night tonight, and I think my teammates knew that too so they were trying to find me the ball and let me go to work and that what happened.”
Wagler pulled the Illini out of several tough spots, especially during their horrid start to the game. Wagler scored the first 16 points, and had 24 out of Illinois 36 first half points. And a few of those first half points became critical as the first half waned.
Wagler scored two back-to-back three’s to resusitate Illinois as it’s life frayed away down 10 with less than a minute to go at half. Purdue lead was cut by more than half and it gave Illinois life heading into the second half.
“It made me feel better. It was huge because the last four minutes [of the half], we were right there and then they made a run,” Underwood said.
This is where it’s important to realize Wagler never really expected to ever have a game like this. But then the second half began. That’s when it hit. The realization that this day belonged to Wagler. This game belonged to Wagler. This moment belonged to Wagler and only Wagler.
Wagler carried the load until he couldn’t any longer. Easily beating out every swtich the Boilermakers made in the second half.
“That’s him, he just plays, there’s nothing that phases him, he just wants to make the right basketball play, tonight it just happened to be scoring it,” Underwood said. “That’s the beauty of Keaton, he takes the emotion out of it, in a venue with 15,000 people all against him, and he just plays, he takes what the game gives him.”
And still even with a performance of the ages, Wagler didn’t flinch.
“He’s very staighfaced on the court, but when you see Keaton off the court he’s very opened up and different, he was lit in the locker room,” Teammate Jake Davis said.
Added David Mirkovic: “I mean, he’s him. He’s just cold, chill. Everyone was around him, but he’s just cold. We were screaming around him.”
How did Wagler get to this point?
It’s hard to believe what Wagler has become.
In 2025-2026 Illinois had come off a season where they had two one-and-done products who came into Illinois as hyped up products, but only made it past the first round of the NCAA tournament. A rather uninspiring result for what Illinois fans have come to expect.
In the weeks and days ahead of Illinois starting its 2025-2026 men’s basketball campaign, buzz began to swell up. All of it surrounding a kid from Kansas.
All of it surrounding that same kid from Kansas. Wagler was introduced to Illini faithful as a rather underrecruited wide-eyed boy who would hope to make an impact in his first season in the Orange and Blue.
Now, there’s a good chance Wagler joins his predecessors as a one-and-done product, and at this point, it’s not crazy to see a future where he eclipses his predecessors as a lottery pick in this years NBA Draft.
An astronomical rise.
Back in late October, the buzz perculating from Ubben Center was out of left field, much like Wagler’s impact on this season’s team. The praise and excitement from those inside the building was almost laughable. How could a three-star recruit be looked at as one of the better players on an Illini team overflowing with talent?
Sharpshooter Jake Davis offered up this.
“He’s so gifted at everything, he’s a great scorer, he’s a great passer, but I think one of his most valuable traits is that he makes the right decisions all the time,” Davis said. “He’s the greatest teamplayer, he’s awesome. I love Keaton.”
He also had a relatable reaction the performance from Wagler he saw unfold from up close.
“When he got to 24 in the first half, I was like [explative].this [explative] is feeling everything, we gotta keep getting him the ball.”
And they did indeed. He carried them, until Davis, David Mirkovic and Tomislav Ivisic put the nail on Purdue’s coffin with four back-to-back three’s.
All of that was gravy on Saturday. The stuff of legends.
It even left Mirkovic, who usually, has a lot to say, speechless.
“I was impressed. I have never had a teammate that scores that many points in one game. He just kept going, he went for 46, its crazy, I don’t even have words to describe that. Best performance, for sure, that I’ve ever seen,” Mirkovic said. “Incredible, just incredible. I don’t know what else to say.”
Wagler was already on his way to leaving his stamp on this season’s team. Saturday night, he cemented himself as the Illinois story of the year. He could even be the NCAA men’s basketball story of the year.
The kind of stuff you see on ESPN on Draft night, where national outlets struggle to muster up interesting stories to puff up kids who’ve seemingly been destined to be a lottery pick since childhood.
Not this kid. He’s paving his own path to a legendary breakthrough.
Category: General Sports
