Illinois’ nine-game winning streak against No. 11 Wisconsin ended with a 95-74 loss Tuesday night in Madison, Wisconsin.
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn had a team-high 17 points for the Illini (17-10, 9-8 Big Ten), who suffered their first loss against the Badgers (21-5, 11-4) in six years. Ben Humrichous scored 13 points and was 3-for-6 from three-point range, and Will Riley added 11 points.
John Tonje had a game-high 31 points as the Badgers won their fifth game in a row and ended their recent run of futility in this series.
Tonje’s big performance came three nights after he had 32 points in a 94-84 win at No. 13 Purdue, which was ranked seventh at the time. He’s the fourth player in school history to score at least 30 points in consecutive games.
Wisconsin’s Steven Crowl added a season-high 20 points to go along with seven rebounds and five assists. John Blackwell had 16 points.
Blackwell made three straight baskets to turn a 13-all tie into a 19-13 Badgers lead. Wisconsin stayed ahead the rest of the way.
Takeaways
Illinois: The Illini didn’t have second-leading rebounder Morez Johnson Jr. due to a broken wrist. Tomislav Ivisic, Illinois’ top rebounder and second-leading scorer, had seven points and three rebounds while playing through an illness.
Wisconsin: The Badgers are scoring 82 points per game and are on pace for their highest average since 1970-71, when they had a school-record 86.3 points per game. This was their 15th game with at least 80 points.
Key stat
Wisconsin had a 39-30 rebounding edge. Illinois came in with a plus-9.7 rebound margin that ranked second among all Division I teams – behind only Milwaukee. Illinois outrebounded Wisconsin 40-29 on Dec. 10.