Illinois’ bid to return to Final Four starts with historic 75-point win featuring multiple records

Illinois basketball made a run to the Final Four in 2026 and has a lineup poised to do it again this year. Andrej Stojakovic decided to return to Illinois after considering the NBA Draft. Illinois opened up its season on Monday night against Fairleigh Dickinson, and it was complete domination by the Illini, setting multiple school records in the process, according to Jeremy Werner of Illini Inquirer. “Largest margin of victory in Illinois program history (75 points) after making a program-record 19 threes. Utter dominance from tip-off,” Werner posted on X, formerly Twitter. Illinois defeated Fairleigh Dickinson 120-45.