CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — Illinois narrowly passed its first major test of the season Tuesday night, outlasting No. 11 Texas Tech in a back-and-forth battle at State Farm Center that marked the first-ever meeting between the two programs.

Tuesday night’s matchup at State Farm Center in Champaign marked the Illini’s first true test of the 2025-26 season, coming off two comfortable wins versus Jackson State and Florida Gulf Coast. Illinois leaned on sophomore guard Andrej Stojaković and veteran guard Kylan Boswell to gain control of the game in the dying minutes while Orange Krush’s energy helped seal a defining November win.

After an underwhelming debut against Florida Gulf Coast, sophomore guard Andrej Stojaković heavily contributed to Illinois’ offensive efficiency, boosting them to a 13-point halftime lead after shooting 5-for-5 from the field in the first half. After finding driving lanes in the paint to keep Illinois ahead late in the second half, Stojaković finished with 23 points on 11-for-16 shooting and sealed the win with a decisive block in the last minute of his breakout game for the Illini.

“You’ve got a couple guards that are physical and downhill, and then you’ve got guys who can shoot it and create some space,” said Illinois head coach Brad Underwood. “Andrej is a tremendous value, he was much better tonight. The other night, he was a little sped up. I don’t think we played as fast tonight.”

On top of Texas Tech head coach Grant McCasland referring to Boswell’s defensive presence as a “stump”, he was the engine for Illinois today finishing with 22 points and a few clutch free throws that helped him narrowly reach the 1,000 point career milestone on a night to remember.

Although the Illini were without forward Tomislav Ivišić, his twin brother Zvonimir and Big Ten Freshman of the Week David Mirkovic stepped up in the paint to fill the hole that Tomislav left. Big Z finished with 11 points, seven rebounds and three blocks as Mirkovic tallied 11 points and four rebounds.

International guard Mihailo Petrovic also remained sidelined after being listed as questionable in what would’ve been his Illinois debut.

The gritty matchup gave Illini fans their first look at how they would stack up against a ranked opponent, showing just how far they have come since last season’s tournament run by defeating one of the best programs in the nation.