The Badgers got revenge and evened the season series against Illinois in a big way on Tuesday.
After a huge win over the Purdue Boilermakers over the weekend, the Wisconsin Badgers followed that up with a dominant 95-74 victory over the Illinois Fighting Illini at the Kohl Center on Tuesday, putting together another strong offensive performance.
It was set to be a high-scoring affair from the beginning, as Wisconsin led 47-41 at halftime before pulling away in the second half, dropping 48 more points in the period.
With the win, Wisconsin improved to 21-5 on the season and 11-4 in conference play, moving up to third in the Big Ten standings after Purdue lost once again on Tuesday.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 95-74 win over the Illinois Fighting Illini on Tuesday.
Getting to your spots
The Badgers cruised to a victory on Tuesday, relying on a pair of their core players. One of them, John Tonje, was an obvious choice. But, the other, Steven Crowl, had his best game of the season in a big way.
Tonje had his second straight 30+ point game with 31 points on 9/15 shooting, including 10/12 from the free throw line. For the senior guard, it was about getting to his spots.
In the first half, free throws led the way for Tonje, who uncharacteristically missed two of his first three attempts before sinking each of his nine remaining free throws during the game.
But, in the second half, Wisconsin looked to take advantage of his size and touch in the post, setting up a similar set on several occasions where they curled the guard on the baseline from the corner to the far block. From there, Tonje worked a variety of moves 1-on-1 on the low block, fading for a few shots, getting to the rim, or getting fouled.
That led to another 20+ point second half, as Tonje finished the period with 21 points on 7/12 from the field. Really, it was all about getting to the guard’s spots and letting him operate, as Illinois didn’t adjust much on those looks and entry passes to the senior.
As for Crowl, he flipped the switch early after initially hesitating on his first post touch. From there, getting a number of 1-on-1 matchups throughout the night, Crowl worked quickly and used his size to get to his spots in the paint, sinking a few hook shots and touches off the glass en route to his best game of the season.
He finished with 20 points on an efficient 7/10 from the field, including 3/3 from deep. Everything was clicking for the big man. When getting open looks off pick-and-pop situations, he knocked down his threes. When seeing 1-on-1 chances on the block, he went to work. And that led to his first 20-point night of the season, which came at a much-needed time.
Limiting Jakucionis
Wisconsin didn’t have their cleanest performance defensively on Tuesday, which is usually tough to come about against a fast-paced Illinois offense that’s predicated on both ball movement and off-ball movement.
But, if there was one standout part from their performance on Tuesday, it was their defensive effort on freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis.
Jakucionis had thrived in the same matchup back in November, accumulating 24 points, six rebounds, and five assists in Illinois’s 86-80 win earlier in the season.
However, Wisconsin effectively eliminated the point guard from the jump, as Jakucionis couldn’t get his offense going, seeming off point with his teammates out of the pick-and-roll.
The Badgers forced seven turnovers off Jakucionis, who had just six points while being limited to 24 minutes in the loss. A big part of the latter was the Badgers getting him into foul trouble in both halves, as the guard picked up two fouls in the first half.
The same occurred in the second half, with Jakucionis’s fourth coming right after subbing in with just under seven minutes left in the game.
Illinois was already dealing with the injury to forward Morez Johnson, while center Tomislav Ivisic was limited, coming off the bench on Tuesday. To counter, the Fighting Illini needed a big effort from Jakucionis, but the Badgers took him away and forced the field to beat them.
That wasn’t the case, as Illinois faded in the second half, hitting just 4/15 of their threes in the second period, with shots coming hard for the Fighting Illini.
While it wasn’t their best defensive effort over, credit head coach Greg Gard and the Badgers for effectively taking Illinois’s star point guard out of the gameplan with a strong performance there.
No. 2 seed coming?
Wisconsin’s win on Tuesday was big for their race in the Big Ten, as they climbed to No. 3 in the conference standings after Purdue lost to Michigan State.
But, they’re also on the rise nationally, as certain teams ahead of him in the AP Top 25 dropped games on Tuesday as well.
No. 9 Texas Tech lost in a close battle on the road to TCU. And No. 7 Texas A&M was knocked off by 16 points to No. 21 Mississippi State on the road as well Tuesday. So, with a big win on Tuesday, the Badgers could be on the rise, potentially even up to a No. 2 seed in NCAA Tournament projections.
This three-game stretch was always going to be crucial for the Badgers, with Purdue, Illinois, and Oregon coming back-to-back-to-back. Well, Wisconsin has now gone 2-0 with the two toughest matchups of the stretch, peaking at the right time with just five games left in the regular season.
At the moment, everything is trending up for the Badgers and in a big way. If they’re able to get the win over Oregon on Saturday to close out the week, they should crack the top 10 in the AP Top 25 and even see themselves get a No. 2 seed projection in the next reveal by the committee.