Westwood, Calif. — Inside Pauley Pavilion on Saturday night, Illinois’ Big Ten title hopes hung by a thread.
When Illinois was on the verge of hanging onto a shaky win, the Bruins’ Donovan Dent took off like a rocket, in the matter of moments, he made his way from one end of the court to another and scored the final bucket to shock Illinois, and the nation and hand the Illini it’s most stagerring loss of 2025-2026, 95-94.
Kylan Boswell lumbered into the locker room with his face splattered with blood and stitches below his eyebrow. Even with the Illini walking away with a thrilling win, that’s how Illinois walked away from this one.
In Illinois’ third overtime game of the season, the Illini avoided the same mistakes they made at Michigan State and against Wisconsin. At UCLA, they didn’t lose any of their core guys due to foul trouble.
Offensive boards were key. Especially in the critical moments of overtime. Andrej Stojakovic missed one, which put Illinois ‘ hopes to escape with this one on hold.
Perhaps the most shocking part of this loss is that this is one that featured a fully healthy Illinois team.
At one point, Brad Underwood’s team clung to a 23-point lead, but a total collapse threatened to hand Illinois its sixth loss of the season. Illinois became a stranger to momentum.
In the late stages of the first half of Friday night’s game at UCLA, Illinois star freshman Keaton Wagler took a scary tumble. Wagler clutched his right shoulder, and for a brief moment, Illinois fans everywhere gasped.
To make matters worse, after holding what was once a 23-point lead, Illinois stagnated. Of course, much to the relief of Illinois fans everywhere, Wagler returned to action before the first half ended. But Wagler’s absence gave UCLA life.
And the Bruins kept chipping away at the rather big hole Illinois pinned them in.
As the first half frayed, David Mirkovic sent a bold bounce-pass intended for Wagler. Seconds before the buzzer ended the half, Mirkovic committed a three-point foul.
The perfect storm to set up UCLA in the second half. A 23-point lead suddenly evaporated into a 7-point lead to end the half.
Losing momentum
Illinois came into UCLA with all the confidence in the world. And who could blame them? The Illini had just come off a blistering win over USC and walked into Pauley Pavilion with orange draped over the blue seats.
For about the first quarter of the game, for as much resistance as it felt like UCLA was offering, it felt like it wasn’t going to work. This version of Illinois felt inevitable.
But they weren’t. Even fully healthy, Illinois struggled mightily against the speed of the Bruins. They were able to drive into the paint with ease.
Especially on the last possession of the game.
First half difference-making stats
Especially after the blitz Brad Underwood ordered following a flagrant foul, an elbow was shoved to the back of the head of Mirkovic. It gave the Illini the keys to the car for an explosive first-half performance.
Illinois got 21 bench points, including a handful of threes from Ben Humrichous and a couple of exhilarating dunks from Zvonomir Ivisic.
But the difference was 15 second-chance points that gave Illinois a big early lead. But ultimately, it was a lead they failed to retain.
Up Next
Illinois will return to Champaign and gear up for a big primetime game against No. 1 Michigan at the State Farm Center on Friday night.