John Tonje scored 31 points and Steven Crowl added 20 as No. 11 Wisconsin won its fifth straight and also ended a nine-game losing streak against Illinois with a 95-74 Big Ten victory Tuesday night in Madison, Wis.
John Blackwell added 16 points for Wisconsin (21-5, 11-4 Big Ten), which had not beaten the Illini in exactly six years, a 64-58 win at home on Feb. 18, 2019.
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn had 17 points and Ben Humrichous added 13 for Illinois (17-10, 9-8). Freshman guard Kasparas Jakucionis, who entered averaging a team-high 16.0 points per game, was held to just six points.
Early in the second half, Gibbs-Lawhorn hit a 3-pointer to make it a two-possession game at 50-45, but Wisconsin boosted the margin to 64-53 on a three-point play by Tonje.
The Badgers hit six of eight shots over a six-minute stretch, extending the lead to 84-67 on Crowl’s open lay-in underneath with just over five minutes remaining.
Blackwell’s 3-pointer put the Badgers up 91-72 with 2:22 left.
Tonje hit 9 of 15 shots, including 3 of 5 from deep, and 10 of 12 from the foul line. Wisconsin shot 52.3 percent, including 10 of 24 from 3-point range (41.7 percent).
The Badgers also had a dominating 48-28 edge on points in the paint.
Wisconsin capitalized on illness and injury for a 39-30 advantage on the boards over the Illini, No. 2 in the country in rebound margin at 10 per game.
Illinois center Tomislav Ivisic, who has been battling the flu, did not start, and had just seven points and three rebounds in 21 minutes. Illini freshman forward Morez Johnson Jr., second with 6.6 boards per game, broke his wrist in a 79-65 loss to Michigan State on Saturday.
Nolan Winter had a game-high eight rebounds for Wisconsin, and Crowl pulled down seven.
Wisconsin went in front 29-17 with 7 1/2 minutes left in the first half when Max Klesmit’s 3-pointer capped an 8-0 run.
Xavier Amos’ 3-pointer put the Badgers up 45-35, but the Illini closed the half with a 6-2 run.
–Field Level Media
