Wisconsin 75, Illinois 50: Badgers bounce back from Purdue loss with impressive victory

MADISON - In the aftermath of Wisconsin's humbling 28-point loss at Purdue, the No. 1 question regarding Greg Gard's players related to their collective psyche.

How would the Badgers, mired in a losing streak that had reached three games, respond the next time they took the court?

The manner in which UW answered that question Friday night at the Kohl Center was impressive. 

The Badgers showed no ill effects from that loss and played with poise and confidence in continuing their domination over Illinois with a 75-50 victory in front of a crowd of 17,287.

"It is important for us to get back to the way we play basketball," said redshirt sophomore guard Brevin Pritzl, whose offensive outburst sparked UW early. "Taking care of the ball, knocking down open shots, making the right play.

"Today was a great game for that with the way they pressure. It just allowed us to move the ball and start playing with each other and start to get our feel back."

The Badgers (10-10, 3-4 Big Ten) snapped the three-game losing streak —  all on the road — and also extended their winning streak against Illinois to 12 games. 

Illinois (10-10, 0-7) continued to struggle under first-year coach Brad Underwood and concluded a stretch of four out of five games on the road.

The Illini are the only Big Ten team without a league victory and haven’t won since Dec. 30, when they recorded a 62-58 victory over Grand Canyon. 

"They were a well-oiled machine tonight," Underwood said. "I haven't been part of too many shellackings like this but they were terrific tonight."

UW suffered a season-high 20 turnovers, including 15 in the first half, in the loss at Purdue. 

The Badgers had three turnovers in the first 2 minutes 53 seconds of the game Friday but finished the first half with five and the game with 12. Illinois entered the night sixth in the nation in turnovers forced at 18.2 per game.

BOX SCORE:Wisconsin 75, Illinois 50

UW’s ball movement against the Illini, who played man-to-man and zone, was outstanding.

Four players scored in double figures and the Badgers finished with 15 assists on 26 baskets.

"I think the biggest thing – and Coach really stressed this before the game – was just to have poise," Ethan Happ said. "Illinois, they try to speed you up a lot. …

"We just had to try to have poise and make the smart pass."

Pritzl, who hit just 1 of 7 three-point attempts and 2 of 11 shots overall at Purdue, scored 13 points in the opening half to help UW build a 43-32 lead.

Pritzl hit 2 of 2 three-point attempts and 5 of 8 shots overall in the half. He finished 3 of 6 from three-point range, 6 of 13 overall and had 16 points.

"Pritzl was a guy that had been struggling a little bit and for him to step up," Underwood said. "He got them going early."

Brad Davison, who suffered a season-high seven turnovers at Purdue, sat the final 10:39 of the first half after picking up his second foul.

UW persevered without its only healthy point guard the rest of the half as Happ and Khalil Iverson handled the ball. Davison came back and finished with 18 points, bolstered by a 10-for-10 performance from the free-throw line.

Happ, UW’s lone double-figure scorer at Purdue, killed the Illini with 16 points, 10 rebounds, five assists and only one turnover. He had seven turnovers at Purdue. 

Iverson provided plays as a finisher and distributor and repeatedly burned Illinois. He finished with 13 points, three rebounds and three assists.

"I thought Khalil, with how Illinois comes after you, that there was some potential to play downhill a little bit," Gard said. "He did a good job of taking advantage of his opportunities."

UW hit just 13 of 51 three-pointers (25.5%) in the three-game losing streak. The Badgers hit 4 of 6 in the first half Friday and finished 7 of 17 (41.2%). The Badgers shot 53.1% overall (26 of 49).

Iverson (6 of 8), Happ (6 of 9) and Pritzl (6 of 13) combined to make 18 of 30 shots.

Freshman Nate Reuvers scored just two points but had five of UW's 10 blocks. 

Leron Black scored 16 points to lead Illinois, which hit just 1 of 14 three-pointers.

Both teams struggled to score early, but Iverson converted a three-point play, Happ scored inside and Davison buried a three-pointer late in the shot clock to give UW a 17-11 lead with 11:52 left in the half. 

That was just the start of an impressive offensive run during which UW scored on nine of 10 possessions. 

Pritzl scored eight points – on a lay-in, a three-pointer and a three-point play – to help UW build a 37-22 lead with 4:17 left in the half.

During a first-half timeout Underwood implored his players to stop allowing such easy penetration. His players never found a way to do that and the help defense wasn't much better. 

"Our rotations were off," Underwood said. "We weren't in gaps. Again, Iverson and Ethan...Brad Davison...they all had their way with us off the dribble."

UW kept attacking after halftime, built the lead to 26 and was able to coast home. 

The mood of the players after the loss at Purdue was dark. Davison appeared especially distraught.

The mood Friday night? Bright, enthusiastic and laced with a bit of relief.

“It was good to get back home and play better, take care of the ball, defend better and make shots,” Gard said. “All those things that go into having success. 

"We had a lot of guys step up and give us contributions. So it was good to see."