All week long, Wisconsin men's basketball coach Greg Gard knew his team would have its hands full with No. 12 Illinois on Saturday. What he did not count on was his own team being their own worst enemy.
Wisconsin was abysmal in shooting from the field early, missing all nine of their three-point attempts in the first half and shooing just 9-30 overall before the intermission. And while effort never seemed to be an issue, Wisconsin's only lead came at 2-0 before Illinois went on an immediate 13-2 run and never looked back.
Illinois (13-5, 9-3 in the Big Ten) were led by their dynamic duo of Kofi Cockburn (23 points, 14 rebounds) and Ayo Dosunmu (21 points, 14 rebounds, 14 assists), who scored more than half of the Illini's overall output. Wisconsin (14-7, 8- in Big Ten play) shot just 41.7 percent (25-60) from the field, including a dismal 16.7 percent (4-24) from the three point line.
The Badgers next play Thursday afternoon at 4:00 p.m. (Central) at Nebraska.