Tomislav Ivisic and Keaton Wagler scored 16 points apiece to lead No. 14 Illinois to a 75-62 victory over No. 13 Tennessee on Saturday night in a Music City Madness matchup in Nashville.
The duo were two of four Illini to score in double figures as Kylan Boswell added 15 and David Mirkovic scored 10. Wagler also provided a team-high eight rebounds and five assists for Illinois (7-2).
Ja’Kobi Gillespie paced Tennessee (7-3) with 15 points, five rebounds and five assists. The Volunteers shot a season-low 36.9 percent from the floor.
Neither team led by more than two possessions during the first 30 minutes in a tightly contested contest, where Tennessee was keeping it close but Illinois was keeping the Vols at arm’s length. Tennessee led 34-32 at the break.
The Vols jumped out to a brief lead midway through the second half when Ethan Burg dropped a dime to J.P. Estrella in transition, setting up the 6-foot-11 sophomore forward for a thunderous dunk.
But the Illini bounced back in a big way. Beginning with a nifty layup from Andrej Stojakovic, Illinois embarked on a 15-3 run, giving it an 11-point advantage with under seven minutes to play. That crucial stretch was capped off by Boswell assisting on a Wagler 3-pointer, then sinking a layup of his own.
From there, Tennessee never got closer than six, and the Illini went on to lead by 14.
Entering the game, the Vols had dominated inside, outscoring their opponents in the paint by an average of 16.7 points. But Illinois nearly matched Tennessee blow-for-blow near the basket, with the Vols holding a 34-32 edge for points in the paint.
Illinois gave up 23 offensive rebounds and 22 second-chance points to the Vols, but made up for it by shooting 11-of-28 from 3-point land. Tennessee made just 6-of-20 from beyond the arc.
For Illinois, the win showed the team it could bounce back from being defeated by then-No. 5 UConn last Friday in their lowest scoring output of the season. Illinois is 2-2 against ranked teams, and the win also snapped its five-game losing streak against ranked opponents at neutral sites.
