Three games into the season, Illinois coach Brad Underwood is already making some bold comments about his starting backcourt of Kylan Boswell and freshman Keaton Wagler.
“It reminds me a little bit of having Ayo (Dosunmu) and Trent (Frazier),” he said, invoking the program’s star guards of the early 2020s. “They’re just different. They’re different types of guards but they’re very compatible together.”
Boswell and Wagler will look to keep the 14th-ranked Fighting Illini (3-0) unbeaten Friday night when they welcome Colgate (1-2) to Champaign.
In Illinois’ first big game of the year, an 81-77 defeat of No. 11 Texas Tech on Tuesday at home, Boswell scored 22 points on just 10 shot attempts and Wagler added 11 to go along with seven rebounds. Wagler also made the clinching foul shot with 6.8 seconds left.
Boswell is tied for the team lead with 21.0 points per game and Wagler (17.0) ranks third. Boswell leads the team in assists (3.7), while the 6-foot-7 Wagler is pulling down 6.7 rebounds per game as well as canning 53.8% of his shots.
“Kylan’s one of the best conditioned guys in the country,” Underwood said. “Strong … been in college four years, so he’s been in that weight room. He knows what conditioning is. He’s smart. And Keaton’s been almost unflappable in terms of not turning it over and good decisions.
“So that’s a position I feel either one of those guys can be very, very comfortable in.”
Add the Illini’s abundance of talented post players — Zvonimir Ivisic, David Mirkovic and Tomislav Ivisic — and you have a team averaging 102.3 points on 53.3% shooting. Their depth was highlighted Tuesday night by a 23-point performance off the bench from Andrej Stojakovic, who also blocked a potential game-tying 3-pointer in the final seconds.
While Illinois eyes another rise in the top 25 next week, Colgate comes into this one off its first win of the season.
Jalen Cox stuffed the stat sheet with 26 points, nine assists, six rebounds and three steals in the Raiders’ 90-83 win against visiting Drexel on Tuesday night.
Colgate also got 22 points from Sam Wright, plus 18 from Andrew Alekseyenko and 16 from reserve Kyle Carlesimo. If the name sounds familiar, it’s because he’s the son of former NBA and college coach P.J. Carlesimo.
Alekseyenko spent most of the Drexel win at the foul line, converting 12 of 14.
“He plays with physicality but also with a skill set and demeanor that shows an understanding of the game and what it takes to help a team win,” said Raiders coach Matt Langel of the 6-foot-8 freshman.
Colgate was picked for a third place finish in the Patriot League, while Cox was a preseason first-team all-league selection. The Raiders saw their run of four straight league tournament championships end last March with a loss to eventual champion American in the semifinals.
Illinois has won all five matchups between the teams, including a 74-57 decision on Dec. 17, 2023 in Champaign.
