LINCOLN, Neb. — The Keaton Wagler show didn’t arrive until the second half Sunday at No. 5 Nebraska. Eight days earlier, the Illinois freshman drew national attention when he scored 46 points to help the Illini upset then-No. 4 Purdue. But he had just five points in the first half Sunday in fron t of a packed house at Pinnacle Bank Arena. Wagler didn’t fret as the Illini went into halftime trailing by six. “I knew I had to step it up. But I wasn’t worried,” Wagler said. “I’ve had low-scoring first halves before, and I’ve come out and scored a lot in the second half. I just kept doing what I always do and let the game come to me.” No. 9 Illinois rode the performances of 7-foot Croatian twins Tomislav Ivišić and Zvonimir Ivišić in the first half, and Wagler came through in the second half with 23 of his 28 points to help Illinois pull off a 78-69 win. Wagler shot 7-for-15 from the field and 10-for-12 from the free-throw line and added five rebounds and five assists. “Then Keaton did Keaton things,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. Keaton Wagler of the Illinois Fighting Illini drives against Sam Hoiberg of the Nebraska Cornhuskers during the second half at Pinnacle Bank Arena on Feb. 1, 2026, in Lincoln, Nebraska. (Steven Branscombe/Getty Images) It was the second win over a Top 5 team for the Illini in nine days, and it extended their winning streak to 11 games. Illinois (19-3, 10-1) moved into a tie for first place in the crowded Big Ten with No. 2 Michigan (20-1, 10-1). Nebraska (20-2, 9-2), which lost to Michigan on Tuesday, dropped into a tie for second place with No. 7 Michigan State (19-3, 9-2). Illinois plays at Michigan State on Feb. 7 and against Michigan at home on Feb. 27. “I think we showed that we are a really good team, that we are really calm in tough moments,” Tomislav Ivišić said of Illinois’ last nine days. “Really smart team, makes good decisions. I just feel like we are a team that knows what to do and knows how to get things done in certain moments.” Tomislav Ivišić had 12 points, eight rebounds and three assists, and Jake Davis added 13 points. With Wagler getting off to a slow scoring start, Illinois leaned on the Ivišić brothers to carry them through much of the first half in a big lineup. The brothers combined for 10 straight points midway through the half, including two Zvonimir alley-oop dunks and a Tomislav 3-pointer on a feed from his brother. “Nebraska is a difficult team to play against, but we figured we had some matchup advantages we can use,” Tomislav Ivišić said. “Of course, everybody can shoot, all five players, and we just tried to manipulate the floor to be guarded by someone who we wanted in that moment.” Illinois had lost to Nebraska 83-80 in Champaign on Dec. 13, but Underwood said he thought the Illini have shown growth on defense since that loss and displayed connectivity Sunday. The Illini mixed in zone defense in the first half to try to hinder the Cornhuskers’ ball movement, and Underwood was pleased with how they tried to take away layups. Nebraska didn’t shoot particularly well early in the first half, starting 4-for-15. But Braden Frager — back after missing two games with an ankle injury — kept the Huskers in it with his 3-point shooting. 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Frager finished with 20 points, including six 3-pointers, and Sandfort had 14 points. “It was definitely our communication and finding players in transition,” Wagler said. “They had a lot of transition points on us in the first game. That was our big emphasis, finding shooters in transition, and knowing our personnel, knowing who’s going to want to shoot the ball a lot, who’s going to want to drive and stuff like that.” Meanwhile, Wagler helped Illinois pull away, hitting three 3-pointers in the second half but also getting physical on drives to the basket. He drew 12 fouls, and all 10 of his points from free throws came in the second half. Nebraska cut Illinois’ lead to 76-69 with 42.4 seconds left on Rienk Mast’s layup, but Andrej Stojaković made a pair of free throws with 38 seconds to play to help seal it. “It gives us a lot of confidence being able to come on the road and knowing we can win these games,” Wagler said. “Just staying poised, staying together.” ...read more read less