Demetri McCamey scored a game-best 27 points to
go along with seven assists, as suddenly surging Illinois accomplished the
near impossible, winning in the Kohl Center, with a 63-56 victory over No.11
Wisconsin in a pivotal conference clash.
Wisconsin entered Tuesday's clash with an 18-game home winning streak, but an
even more daunting statistic. No unranked foe had entered the Kohl Center and
left victorious since 2000.
Until Tuesday night.
Mike Tisdale added 19, as he and McCamey scored all but 17 of Illinois' points
in a victory that moved the Fighting Illini (17-8, 9-3 Big Ten) into a first
place tie with Michigan State, which lost to Purdue on Tuesday, in the
conference standings. D.J. Richardson donated nine points in the victory as
the judicious Illini attempted 11 less shots than the home team, but made
up for it by connecting at a 53.3 percent clip.
"Obviously it's a great win for our team and our program. To come back after
Michigan State on Saturday with [ESPN College] GameDay, the excitement, the
win, and then to come here and keep your poise and keep your focus and start
slow but somehow find a way to just grind it out, I couldn't be more excited
and proud of our kids," stated Illinois head coach Bruce Weber.
Jason Bohannon led Wisconsin (19-5, 8-4) with 15 points and six rebounds while
Trevon Hughes added 12 points and Keaton Nankivil donated nine points and six
rebounds for the Badgers, who had won six of the last seven meetings with
Illinois before Tuesday's tilt.
"When we were down 4, 5, 6 points we were pulling it a little quicker than
maybe we would like but we didn't have any other choice because we were
playing against the clock," surmised Badgers head coach Bo Ryan.
Wisconsin took a narrow 35-33 lead into the second half, and opened an early
42-37 edge on Jordan Taylor's trey just over three minutes in. Illinois reeled
off nine of the next 12 to take a one-point advantage, 46-45, on Bill Cole's
layup.
Bohannon gave the Badgers the lead back at 48-47 after drilling one of
Wisconsin's 12 three-pointers just over seven minutes into the final half.
Bohannon made another of this three treys to square the contest at 53-53 with
a little over five minutes on the clock.
However, Illinois scored the next nine as Wisconsin went approximately five
minutes without a field goal until Rob Wilson's trey with 16 seconds left cut
the margin to 62-56. The shot was too late as Cole's free throw made the final
tally with just under 10 seconds on the clock.
Game Notes
Wisconsin shot 35.7 percent from the floor and attempted just nine free
throws...Both teams played near error-free basketball in a game that featured
just 16 total turnovers...Illinois owns a 108-74 all-time edge in the series.
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