Illinois did not just beat Tennessee. The Illini embraced the city’s “Smashville” nickname and made it their own, punctuating a 75-62 win with a trophy celebration that turned downright rock-and-roll.
when in smashville pic.twitter.com/SP1q0O3GPv
— Illinois Men's Basketball (@IlliniMBB) December 7, 2025
After a physical, punishing matchup at Bridgestone Arena, players returned to the locker room to find a customized guitar trophy painted half Tennessee orange and half Illinois orange. Minutes later, as athletic director Josh Whitman snapped a photo, the guitar lay splintered across the floor.
The culprit? Tomislav Ivisic. And it was something he owned.
“Why are you asking me?” Ivisic joked when pressed about the demolished instrument, his shoulder scratched from battle, and a dented Gatorade can in front of him. Moments earlier, Brad Underwood had walked into the locker room. The Illinois coach spotted Ivisic hammering the guitar into the ground as sophomore Andrej Stojakovic watched in startled silence.
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It was a fitting exclamation point after Underwood spent the past week challenging his team’s toughness in the wake of a loss at UConn. Illinois responded with its grittiest performance of the season, outmuscling the No. 13 Volunteers despite a 46–31 rebounding deficit and smothering Tennessee’s top scorers. The Illini held projected lottery pick Nate Ament to nine points on 4-for-14 shooting and forced the Vols into 36.9 percent from the field.
Freshman guard Keaton Wagler delivered a breakout performance, posting 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists, and zero turnovers in 34 minutes. Ivisic matched him with 16 points and hit two threes, while brother Zvonimir Ivisic buried back-to-back triples in the final minutes to halt Tennessee rallies and cement the win. Kylan Boswell added 15 points, and David Mirkovic provided critical physicality off the bench.
“We grew,” Underwood said. “Hard-fought college basketball game. Really good team effort.”
Illinois improved to 7–2 and secured its second top-15 victory of the season, a résumé-boosting win that reaffirmed the Illini’s ceiling when their physicality matches their skill. And if a guitar had to pay the price, well, that’s just Smashville.
