Dissecting Illinois’ complete performance in total drubbing of Northwestern

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois dominated Northwestern at the State Farm Center in round two of what should always be a closely contested “rivalry” game. Wednesday night was a forgettable chapter in that sense, because Illinois put together its most complete performance in conference play.

And it’s the largest margin of victory in conference play this season, the largest before? An 81-55 win over Rutgers. That win was less than a month ago.

That’s how bruising this Fighting Illini team has been in 2025-2026.

To contextualize Wednesday night’s bashing of the Wildcats, with around six minutes to go in the first half, Illinois’ three-point shooting percentage nearly eclipsed the team’s field goal percentage, 56% to 57%— and it’s not like Illinois wasn’t shooting threes. In fact, in the first half, they went 11-for-22 from beyond the arc.

“With multiple threats on the court at once allows us to play with a certain freedom and trust, and sharing the ball like we did tonight just gets us open looks,” Andrej Stojakovic said after the game.

Stojakovic ended the night as the team’s leading scorer with 17 points. And five Illini ended the night in double figures. Ivisic ended the night with 12 rebounds.

During the waning moments of the first half, with less than five seconds to go, Illinois held the last possession. The ball floated to Keaton Wagler. He sprinted towards midcourt, but before he even got there, he chucked one up.

Naturally, the shot went in… because of course it did.

That’s the kind of night Illinois had on Wednesday.

A 12-1 start to conference play is the program’s best start to conference play since the 2019-2020 season. Their 12-game win streak is the longest in the Brad Underwood era and the best since 2012-2013. With Wednesday night’s win, the Illini clinch a 20-win season for the seventh straight year.

This season has continued to etch itself in the history books among some of the best Illini seasons.

“They are a vastly superior team than us,” Northwestern coach Chris Collins said after the game. “They’re doing what a really good team tends to do, they’re getting better.”

A change in defensive philosophy has paid off

This season, the Illini have emphasized their paint defense, even if that means giving up a couple more open three-point looks.

“Math,” Underwood said. “It’s just math. Layups and close-end shots are a much higher percentage shot.”

Despite the success of that new method, Illinois head coach Brad Underwood had a difficult time coming to terms with a new defensive philosophy that the staff introduced ahead of the season.

“We had to be better; we did. And as good as we were about taking away three’s, there were still some things that were lacking. And the personnel that we were trying to recruit were going to force us to do some stuff,” Underwood said. “I was the hardest one to convince. We held teams without a three sometimes.”

It had to be a combination of Cam Crocker, who is in his first season as a defensive coordinator for Illinois, and Zach Hammer, a longtime assistant coach who played the biggest role in convincing Underwood that this change in philosophy was necessary.

“I had to buy into it, I had to stop barking every time somebody gave up a three and made it. And just understand that for the long term, this is what we gotta be good at,” Underwood said.

Underwood saw the fruits of that labor on Wednesday night.

David Mirkovic held Nick Martinelli to four points, the lowest points scored this season, with four. Before Wednesday night, when he was averaging 24.6 points per game. Crocker has worked extensively with Mirkovic, who already has a high IQ, to work on his defense.

Underwood sees it as him hitting a growing period and doing away with his freshman tendencies. Wednesday night was another example of that.

“They did a good job, they pushed him off his spots,” Collins said.

Added Stojakovic: “We knew he was going to come out aggressive, especially in that second half… Obviously, players like that, we’re never going to stop completely. Mirk did a good job on that, but I was one of the many keys that it took to win.”

Offensive philosophy?

Three is more than two.

The team is so good at three-point shooting that they don’t really care for teams getting a couple of extra open looks from beyond the arc. Of course, that is part of the defensive philosophy. But you know what helps? Illinois can respond with another three… And they tend to make them.

They finished shooting 50% from three on Wednesday.

Simple analytics. Plus, it seems they have all the key cogs to create a complete roster.

“Coach reminds us every day that it’s a rebounding battle,” Mirkovic said. “That’s one of the biggest reason’s were on this streak.”

They also spread the ball around a lot.

“We have so many good weapons, and we have freedom, Tyler [Underwood] lets us play and find solutions,” Mirkovic said.

Finding solutions has been what Underwood has consistently praised about this team.

A complete team

This 12-game win streak has been a result of a lot of resiliency from this team. But they’re made up of the right stuff. And have won as a complete team.

“Tomi doesn’t get enough credit for how good a screen he sets and the angles he sets,” Underwood said. “He’s always talking.”

Underwood sees Ivisic as the quarterback.

Versatile big? Check.

A Zvonimir Ivisic that can bash one or two buckets away from opposing teams.

Shot blocker? Check.

Stojakovic tends to step up against lower-quality conference opponents. But his value has elevated on the defensive side of the ball.

A dude who can drive to paint and draw fouls? Check.

A do-it-all freshman phenom?

Oh… Meaning Keaton Wagler? Check.

And that’s just naming a few.

The stakes will continue to get higher when Illinois takes on No. 10 Michigan State for another consequential Big Ten game this Sunday.