It was the Illinois basketball team’s first game without Kylan Boswell, and we passed with flying colors.
Boswell is out for a month with a fracture in the hand, but the Illini came out and looked good without the starting guard. We were hitting shots from everywhere on the court, and the experienced transfer portal addition really came through in a big way.
This was one of the better performances I have seen out of Illinois this season. The team needed to step up in Boswell’s absence, and they didn’t disappoint on Wednesday night to the tune of a 89-70 win over the Terrapins.
Here are five intriguing observations from the Illinois basketball win over Maryland
1. The Illinois offensive output was better than expected
When Boswell went down with an injury, I didn’t think there would be a huge impact. Brad Underwood and the Illinois coaching staff did a great job constructing the roster to withstand an injury.
I did think we could see a bit of a dip both offensively and defensively at times, though. While the defense did look a little iffy, especially toward the beginning, the Illini offense produced more than I thought they would.
Dropping 89 points without the second-leading scorer on the team should be eye-opening for other programs. Illinois can hit you from many different angles.
The offensive rebounds clearly helped with the offensive production, too. Pulling down 15 offensive rebounds is a big number. That is a lot of second-chance points that we converted on Wednesday night.
Even with a bad shooting game from Keaton Wagler, Illinois still hit 38% from deep, going 15-of-40. That is incredible.
2. There is zero trust in Mihailo Petrovic
I fully expected Mihailo Petrovic to see plenty of time with Boswell being sidelined with an injury. It would only make sense since he is one of the backup guards who had a lot of hype coming into the season.
That is definitely now the case, though. Petrovic not only didn’t see a massive increase in minutes, he actually came in under his 7.4 minutes per game average on the season.
Petrovic only logged four minutes against Maryland. Four minutes. Think about that for a second. This was his chance to maybe get some shine and be a big part of this team, but Underwood didn’t trust him on the court.
There are clear downfalls to Petrovic. He struggles defensively, and his ability to put the ball in the hoop is not always there. But he also hasn’t had time on the court to develop his game with this team.
The downfall of Petrovic is kind of crazy. He was supposed to be a big part of the Orange and Blue during the 2025-26 campaign. Now the kid can’t even see time when one of our starting guards is out for a month.
3. Andrej Stojakovic’s full repertoire was on display
While Petrovic struggled to see more minutes than usual, one player who did take advantage of a missing piece was Andrej Stojakovic.
Stojakovic took the floor and was immediately Illinois’ best player. His full ability was on display in the first few minutes, and he never took his foot off the gas pedal.
By game’s end, Stojakovic finished with a game-high 30 points on 9-of-18 shooting from the floor. He was great in this game and showed Illinois fans what he could do on both ends of the court.
I liked what I saw from Stojakovic defensively. He used his length to guard well. The ability to shoot from all levels really shone through, too. Stojakovic started the game hitting three-pointers and showed he could knock down shots from anywhere consistently.
The fact that Stojakovic led Illinois in rebounds is another mind-blowing number. His nine rebounds tied Davis Mirkovic.
This was by far Stojakovic’s most impressive game with the Illini. If we can get him to play like this on a nightly basis, he will become a first-team All-Big Ten player and someone who can lead us to a top-three seed in the NCAA tournament.
4. A Keaton Wagler bad game is still wildly impressive
I think this might be the first time that I was kind of disappointed in what Keaton Wagler brought to Illinois offensively. But you know what, this is one of his worst games, and he still almost logged a triple-double.
Just let that soak in for a second. Wagler only scored 13 points on 4-of-12 shooting from the field and 1-of-9 from three-point range. That is a bad game offensively. But the fact that he can impact Illinois without having to put up 20 points makes him an elite player.
To go along with his 13 points, Wagler also had seven rebounds and a team-high eight assists. Most nights, Wagler needs to be Illinois’ go-to guy when it comes to scoring. Against Maryland, we needed more of a distributor, so he formed into that.
Wagler alone had eight assists, and the entire Maryland team only had 11 assists. That is how special this kid really is.
While some people might be down on what Wagler did, I would like to shine some light on his performance. This was rock bottom for him. A near-triple-double is as bad as you are going to get out of him. That is why he is going to be a lottery pick in the 2026 NBA Draft.
5. Jake Davis is making the most out of the opportunity
The last observation I want to note from Wednesday night is how excited I am for Jake Davis. This kid came to Illinois and is finally getting rewarded for his loyalty.
Davis could have easily bolted the program after last season. He transferred in from Mercer after averaging 9.0 points and shooting 38.7% from three-point range as a freshman. In year one at Illinois, Davis only logged 9.5 minutes per game and averaged 3.0 points.
I wouldn’t have blamed Davis for transferring and finding a new home. He didn’t, though. He stuck it out at Illinois, and throughout this season, he has earned the trust of Underwood. That trust paid off with a start against Maryland.
Davis played 24 minutes, and he dropped 12 points on 4-of-6 shooting from the field, all of which were three-pointers. He also had four rebounds and two assists without having a single turnover or foul.
The 24 minutes Davis played against Maryland were tied for his second-most as a member of the Illini. He got his chance to shine at Illinois, and he made the most of it. This was a great performance by him and one that seals up his role on this team.