Last night, the Illinois Fighting Illini stormed into the postseason with a vehement 35-point win over the Penn Quakers.
Heading into the matchup, a few question marks hovered overhead for Illinois head coach Brad Underwood, most importantly, whether or not his freshman point guard Keaton Wagler would be ready for his first Big Dance.
To put it lightly, yes, Wagler was more than prepared for his first appearance in the NCAA Tournament.
Keaton Wagler lit up Penn, now it's on to VCU
Last night, Wagler racked up 18 points, seven rebounds, seven assists, one steal, and one block in a career night to start the Fighting Illini's run through the postseason.
Wagler shot 50 percent from the field, but made four out of his seven three-point shots. Most notably, he committed to just one turnover and was only called for two fouls, proving that the moment wasn't affecting his mindset.
He led Illinois in assists and earned the second-most points on the team, only trailing fellow freshman David Mirkovic, who amassed a jaw-dropping 29 points and 17 rebounds in the Illini's routing of the Quakers.
Throughout the game, the Illini leaned into exactly what Underwood had asked of them: out-rebounding the opponent and finally shooting well from beyond the arc.
Illinois earned a shocking 48 total rebounds, including 28 boards off the defensive glass. Meanwhile, Penn brought down just 25 rebounds, only managing to snag seven offensive boards.
Additionally, the Illini shot a jaw-dropping 42 percent from beyond the arc, going 15-of-36 from deep to score 45 of their 105 total points.
Up next, the 3-seed Illini will face the 11-seed VCU Rams, who just upset the North Carolina Tar Heels. Illinois and VCU will play at 6:50 p.m. CT on Saturday, March 21, and the game will be aired on CBS.