CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (WAND) – It had been nearly a full month since Kylan Boswell last suited up for the Illinois men’s basketball team. His last appearance – January 17 in a 77-67 win over Minnesota, the Illini’s seventh-consecutive win on a streak that would ultimately stretch to 12-games.
After breaking his hand, Kylan would miss 7 games and be forced to watch from the bench as his teammates performed above expectation without him. Illinois went on the road and beat then #4 Purdue and #5 Nebraska. However, following back-to-back losses to #10 Michigan State in East Lansing and Wisconsin at home, it was apparent Boswell’s presence was desperately missed.
“Just his physicality and his presence makes us a better team defensively, there’s no doubt about that,” Brad Underwood said.
Sunday afternoon, the Champaign native made his return to the starting lineup, despite initial plans of returning a few days later against USC. It paid off for Illinois as they went on to top the Hoosiers, 71-51, inside a sold-out arena.
“I think we’ve done everything we can with hyperbaric [therapy], sauna, bone simulation, I’ve done sleep in early,” Kylan said. “I try my best just to get the process done as fast as possible and the healing has gotten better.”
Boswell wasn’t the only returner to the State Farm Center against Indiana. With the NBA on it’s All-Star break, several former players who have gone to the league made the trip back to Champaign. Terrence Shannon Jr. (Minnesota) was brought in to Illinois’ game prep to mimic the play of Indiana’s Lamar Wilkerson, who Underwood described as a “pro”. In addition, 2025 NBA draft picks Will Riley (Washington) and Kasparas Jakucionis (Miami) sat courtside to cheer on former teammates.
“Everybody always wants to come back here,” Riley said.
Underwood opened his postgame media conference saying that beyond the win, the environment in the locker room following the game is what brought him the most joy. He shared that the former players joined the current roster and recruits in the celebration.
“When you get those dudes back, and then you have some newbies in the room that haven’t worn the jersey yet, and your current players, that’s what this is all about,” the head coach said. “You can talk wins and losses but the relationships and all that are pretty cool.”
On the floor, freshman David Mirkovic had his best game offensively since the start of Big Ten play. He posted a team high 25-points, nearly reaching his career high of 27 set against Colgate on November 14.
Underwood shared that following Illinois’ loss to Wisconsin, Mirkovic sent him a lengthy text message taking responsibility for the result, saying he wasn’t mentally prepared for the game. In the days that followed, David had some of the most motivated practices demonstrated this season.
“He practiced at a different level and that showed off today,” Underwood said commending the performance. “He was dominant on both ends and is as focused defensively as I’ve seen him.”
The win comes in the first of four-straight games against Quad 1 opponents to close out Februrary. The Illini now head to Los Angeles for a pair of games against USC and UCLA, before returning home to play #2 Michigan.
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