In arguably their most important game left, No. 11 Wisconsin men’s basketball team (21-5, 11-4 Big Ten) routed unranked Illinois (17-10, 9-8 Big Ten) 95-74 at home Tuesday, Feb. 18. The win gave the Badgers their first success in 10 tries against the Fighting Illini and improved this season’s home record to 13-1.
Graduate student John Tonje led the scoring effort with 31 points and added four steals on the defensive end, continuing his late-season push to challenge Purdue guard Braden Smith for Big Ten Player of the Year.
Sophomore John Blackwell and graduate student Steven Crowl added 16 and 20 points respectively, with key defensive performances from seniors Max Klesmit and Kamari Mcgee helping to slump Illinois’ star freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis.
The game started fast, with both teams launching several 3s in the first four minutes, with Wisconsin taking an 11-8 lead going into the TV timeout. Illinois tied it at 13 with 13:23 left in the first half before Wisconsin scored to retake the lead.
Wisconsin led by double-digit points for much of the first half before a slight run from Illinois in the closing minutes saw them cut the lead to just six. Wisconsin’s 47 first-half points were a product of what has been a historic scoring season for the Badgers that has seen them average 82.0 ppg, good for 16th in the country.
The second half was similar, with Wisconsin scoring first and getting out to a 10-12-point lead yet again. Illinois sophomore Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn did his best to claw his squad back into it with 15 second-half points, but the closest they got was a Tomislav Ivisic layup with 8:42 left that cut Wisconsin’s lead down to 12.
Wisconsin made many improvements from their Dec. 10 road loss to Illinois, where they were dominated on the glass and had no answer for Jakucionis. This time around, the Badgers were a force on the glass, out-rebounding Illinois 39-30 and shutting down Jakucionis to just six points on three shots.
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This game was a complete showing from a Wisconsin team that has exceeded every pre-season expectation. With the win, the Badgers moved to 7th in the widely popular KenPom rankings, 40 spots higher than their preseason ranking and their highest since Bo Ryan’s final season — one that saw Wisconsin in the National Championship game.
The Badgers look to continue climbing the rankings with hopes of being a top-three seed in March as they take on the Oregon Ducks at the Kohl Center on Saturday, Feb. 22. The Ducks are a well-coached team looking to clinch their spot in March Madness with a win.
Despite starting the year with impressive wins over teams like Alabama and Texas A&M, the Ducks’ play has slipped, leading to a 7-8 record in conference play. Led by sophomore guard Jackson Shelstad, who averages 13.7 points on 46% shooting and 40% from three, the Ducks’ will surely put up a good fight.