The Illinois Fighting Illini have been one of the best basketball teams in the country. They currently are KenPom's No. 1 offense, and they have an electric true freshman in Keaton Wagler. Illinois has only lost four total games and only two conference games. One of those losses came in their most recent game against Tom Izzo's Michigan State Spartans.
Greg Gard can learn a lot about how to beat this Illinois team by doing what Izzo had his squad doing. There are three things that made it possible for the Spartans to upset the Illini.
1. Shutting down Keaton Wagler
The first secret is that the Spartans found a way to slow down Wagler. The true freshman phenom has been on an absolute tear. If we toss out the Northwestern game, when Illinois won by 40 points (so Wagler played a lot less), Wagler has scored 28, 22, and 46 coming into the Spartan game. Michigan State just gave him no breathing room, and Jeremy Fears was in his pocket all night long.
Wagler had a final line of 16 points, six rebounds, and three assists with three turnovers. And while that looks decent on paper, he had 10 of those points from the free-throw line. He went 2-16 from the field and 2-8 from three.
Wisconsin needs to find a way to hamper Wagler just like Michigan State did.
2. Control the glass - rebound with hustle more than size
Related: Wisconsin basketball gets Top 5 Illinois on the road but with terrible TV news
Michigan State is smaller than Illinois and yet out-rebounded them by 10. The final rebounding total was 48-38, but it felt like a bigger margin than that because of the crucial rebounds that the Spartans grabbed. According to WritingIllini.com, this was the second-worst rebounding margin this season.
This hasn't been the biggest strength for Wisconsin either, but Carrington has generated a buzz from the win position with his ability to get in there and get rebounds. The other players have been elevated because of it. That has to happen in order to beat Illinois; Wisconsin needs to successfully rebound the basketball.
3. Control the pace - Boyd and Fears have something in common
Michigan State stalled Illinois' fast break and used Jeremy Fears' speed to beat Illinois' defense. It was a remarkable performance from Fears. Sure, he gets the viral stuff online about his mental maturity, and rightfully so, his gameplay is incredible. He is faster than anyone on the court. You know who else will be faster than anyone on the court tomorrow? Nick Boyd.
Everything changed in the 2nd half once Fears realized he's the fastest player on the court
— ᗩᑎT ᗯᖇIGᕼT (@itsAntWright) February 8, 2026
First real moment where Illinois misses Kylan Boswell
Nick Boyd needs to break down Illinois just like Fears did, there's no reason he can't, and he can use his speed to his advantage. Greg Gard has called it one of his best weapons, and a team like Illinois can be exploited when speed is employed. Let Boyd loose, and follow these other two above advices and Wisconsin could have it's second Top-5 victory of the year.