If I told you a free falling team lost a much needed game because of a complete inability to generate late stops on defense, you probably would have guessed it was the previously top-five Badgers (5-5 Big Ten, 18-5 overall).
Thankfully, this instead happened to Illinois, with Wisconsin on the happy end of a 75-63 win.
The game started out close, with neither team reaching a lead greater than three points until three minutes remained in the first half.
Then, a layup from freshman guard Bronson Koenig put the Badgers ahead by five and strengthened a lead they would never relinquish.
Freshman forward Nigel Hayes built on this by scoring on three straight possessions, and showing a growing offensive game that should make every Wisconsin fan giddy with expectations.
The start of the second half saw the Badgers’ lead grow to 10 points, before an Illinois charge cut it to two.
The rest of the game featured a back-and-forth between the two teams that kept the Fighting Illini in the game, but never closer than two points, until the final minutes. At that point, Wisconsin’s offense took over and scored on 12 of their last 14 possessions.
This offensive outburst was fortunate, as Hayes and junior center Frank Kaminsky both reached the dreaded four-foul mark during this key stretch (Hayes with three minutes left and Kaminsky with five).
This win was obviously a necessity for the Badgers as they hope to continue their impressive streak of top-four Big Ten finishes, especially when three of their next four opponents are ranked.
It was another improvement game for Hayes, who finished with 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting and four rebounds.
The Badgers also got strong performances from all their starters except for Kaminsky, who was held to just two points and finished with fewer minutes than Hayes. Kaminsky’s quiet performance meant yet another night of the Badgers being severely outscored in the paint, this time by a mark of 30-18.
On the Fighting Illini side of the court, redshirt junior guard Rayvonte Rice did everything he could for his team, registering a game-high 24 points and another game-high nine rebounds. Despite this star performance, ball movement was a problem for Illinois as they ended the game with more turnovers than assists.
This win is the Badgers’ seventh straight against the Fighting Illini, the longest streak in program history. The Fighting Illini have now dropped eight straight games and lie at the bottom of the Big Ten standings. The future is pretty bleak for what was once a ranked team during conference play.
The focus will now shift to a long-awaited date with Michigan State at the Kohl Center, Sunday at noon.
