Keaton Wagler scored 23 of his game-high 28 points in the second half as No. 9 Illinois rallied for a 78-69 Big Ten victory over No. 5 Nebraska on Sunday afternoon in Lincoln, Neb.
After going 2-for-9 from the field in the first half, Wagler canned 3 of 4 from 3-point range and 10 of 12 at the line in the second half for the Fighting Illini (19-3, 10-1 Big Ten), who won their 11th game in a row and pulled into a share of the Big Ten lead alongside No. 3 Michigan.
Jake Davis scored 13 points and Tomislav Ivisic added 12 points and eight rebounds, as Illinois held a 40-27 edge on the boards and a 28-18 advantage in points in the paint.
Braden Frager came off the bench to score 20 points for the Cornhuskers (20-2, 9-2), who dropped their second game in a row despite hitting 15 of 35 from 3-point range. Pryce Sandfort scored 14 points and Sam Hoiberg added 13, but Rienk Mast, who missed Tuesday’s loss at Michigan due to the flu, hit just 2 of 10 shots and scored all five of his points in the final minute.
Similar to the teams’ meeting at Illinois, where Nebraska earned an 83-80 victory on Dec. 13, Sandfort buried two 3-pointers during the opening minutes to stake the Huskers to a 9-4 lead.
Wagler missed his first four shots, but his driving layup at the 12:46 mark gave Illinois its first edge at 10-9. This coincided with Illinois’ decision to switch to a Twin Towers lineup and a 2-3 zone that slowed Nebraska for several minutes.
Then Frager, playing for the first time since rolling his ankle Jan. 21 against Washington, swished three 3-point attempts in a 4:22 stretch to forge a 20-20 tie with 7:11 remaining in the half.
Illinois took a 31-25 lead late in the first half, but Nebraska answered with back-to-back 3-pointers by Sandfort and Sam Hoiberg. Worse for the Illini between those shots, Wagler took a blow to the midsection while trying to chase a loose ball.
With Wagler on the bench, Frager drilled a 3-pointer as part of Nebraska’s 11-0 run. The Huskers finished 11 of 20 from 3-point range in the first half to take a 39-33 lead into the break.
Illinois enjoyed an 11-2 burst early in the second half and seized a 46-44 lead on Ivisic’s running lefty bank with 15:06 to play.
After the teams exchanged the lead, Illinois went on a 10-0 spree that began with a Davis 3-pointer and concluded with a Wagler 3-pointer to make it 63-52 with 6:45 to go. Nebraska never got closer than seven the rest of the way.
–Field Level Media
