Kaspars Jakucionis scored 24 points, which was the highest achievement of his career Tre White had 23 points and eight rebounds Kylan Boswell added 19 points and six assists to lead Illinois to an 86-80 victory over No. 20 Wisconsin on Tuesday night.
It was the fourth straight game in which Jakucionis scored 20 or more points for the Illini (7-2, 1-1 Big Ten), who defeated Wisconsin for the ninth straight season.
Nolan Winter led the Badgers (8-3, 0-2) with 15 points and seven rebounds, John Tonje had 14 points, Max Klesmit scored 13 i John Blackwell had 10. Wisconsin lost its third straight game after starting the season with eight straight wins.
At halftime, Illinois led 39-35. The Illini blew a 47-46 lead with 16:32 left in the second half before regaining the lead on Boswell’s three-pointer. They never caught up again.
It was Brad Underwood’s 150th victory in his eighth year as Illinois State coach. Now he’s 150-90.
To go
Illinois: The Illini aren’t afraid to shoot threes, but that had no effect on Wisconsin. Illinois shot 10-of-33 from long range.
Wisconsin: The Badgers have two of the best free throw shooters in the Big Ten in Klesmit and Tonje. However, neither of them scored in the first half, and Klesmit (3 of 6) and Tonje (2 of 2) did not shoot many free throws in the second half.
A key moment
Jakucionis’ four points with 6:08 left gave Illinois a 70-60 lead. Since then, the Badgers have never been closer than four points.
Key statistics
Underwood challenged his team after last week’s overtime loss to Northwestern to be better offensively. The Illini responded by grabbing 15 offensive rebounds while outrebounding the Badgers 40-29. Tomislav Ivisić had 11 rebounds for Illinois, a game-high.
Next
Illinois will host No. 1 Tennessee on Saturday. Butler will be at Wisconsin on Saturday.
Associated Press reports.
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