Stojakovic stars as bench piece while Illinois cruises to a Sweet Sixteen berth
· Yahoo Sports
Andrej Stojakovic came to Illinois as one of the most highly-touted transfers in the country. The former McDonald’s All-American averaged 17.9 points per game as a sophomore at Cal last season before hitting the portal and coming to Champaign.
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An ankle injury during Big Ten play played a part in Stojakovic coming off the bench for the final few weeks of the season. Despite not hearing his name called during pregame intros, Stojakovic made sure the college basketball world felt his presence against VCU in the Round of 32.
In 26 minutes off the bench, the slashing wing tallied a team-high 21 points on 7-for-12 shooting from the field. He knocked down seven of his nine free throws as well. It’s his eighth game of 20 or more points as an Illini.
Andrej Stojakovic off the bench to send Illinois to the Sweet 16:
— B/R Hoops (@brhoops) March 22, 2026
21 PTS | 7-12 FG | 26 MINS pic.twitter.com/fXbI4Z5ekf
“Dre’s just found a niche,” Illinois head coach Brad Underwood said. “I’m so comfortable with him knowing we’ve got one of our best offensive players coming in off the bench. He proved again tonight defensively that he’s very good on that end as well.”
Stojakovic scored five points in a row to help Illinois grow its lead to 17-5 early in the first half. VCU went on a huge run and eventually took a 28-26 lead, but Stojakovic answered right back. The microwave scorer accounted for Illinois’ final 11 points of the first half, giving the Illini a 35-28 lead going into the break.
“Andrej, what a first half,” said Underwood. “On the offensive side, on the glass…sparked us. Was tremendous with his athleticism. The dunk he had that kind of ended a little dry spell for us was huge. But 16 first half points and a lot of foul pressure on them was a huge help tonight.”
It was a quieter second half for Andrej, but the Illini as a unit picked up right where he left off in the first half. Illinois outscored VCU 41-27 in the second half en route to a 21-point win.
With this being his first March Madness appearance in three collegiate seasons, Stojakovic is not taking anything for granted. It’s safe to say the rest of the Illinois roster isn’t either. Stojakovic had this to say about Illinois’ mentality moving forward.
“It’s what we work for,” he said. “It restarted last game and we understand that the first game against Penn was the only guaranteed one. We gotta work for each one moving forward. That’s our mindset and we’re going to continue to work.”
With Illinois having survived the first weekend, the competition level is only going to rise. Up next for the Illini is Houston, one of the toughest and most physical teams in the nation. Houston boasts the 4th ranked defense per KenPom.
Will Houston’s defensive physicality limit Andrej Stojakovic’s slashing ability? Stojakovic was held scoreless against a similarly tough Michigan defense in late February.
Regardless, Illinois has proven that they have a plethora of scoring options.