Illinois basketball’s Keaton Wagler getting top-10 pick hype after 46-point masterpiece

The Illinois basketball team picked up a big win over Purdue on Saturday. Illinois guard Keaton Wagler poured in a whopping 46 points for the club, to get the Big Ten conference victory.

Following the game, Wagler got his flowers from multiple news reporters who were left astonished at Wagler’s dominance.

“Goodness. This is a top-10 pick, guys. And it might not be the back half of the top-10,” The Athletic’s Sam Vecenie posted to X, formerly Twitter.

Wagler is just a freshman, and his performance puts him in some elite company. He is one of just eight freshmen since 2010 to post at least 40 points in a game on 20 or fewer shots, per Illinois basketball reporter Jeremy Werner. That statistic is against high-major competition only.

Others to accomplish this feat as freshmen include Andrew Wiggins, Jared Sullinger and Cooper Flagg, who put up those kinds of bonkers numbers just last season at Duke.

Illinois is now 17-3 on the season, following the win. The Illini are also 8-1 in the conference, and have won nine games in a row.

Keaton Wagler was unstoppable for Illinois against Purdue

Wagler finished his night shooting 13-for-17 from the floor. The freshman was on the floor for 39 minutes, and also posted four assists in the game.

Illinois needed all of those points to slip past a very good Purdue team. Purdue is considered a contender to win the Big Ten this season. The Illini won the game by a 88-82 score, and Wagler scored nearly all of his team’s first half points.

Wagler doesn’t get some of the attention that other freshmen in college basketball have been getting this season. Many NBA insiders and analysts think other first-year guys including BYU’s AJ Dybantsa are lottery picks in the 2026 NBA Draft. This performance from Wagler clearly has turned some heads in the NBA, among scouts and analysts.

Illinois basketball next plays Washington on Thursday.

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