3 Key Numbers From Illinois Basketball's Loss at Wisconsin

Hot Badgers shooting and poor Illini rebounding tell the tale of Tuesday night's blowout

Wisconsin guard Kamari McGee (4) and guard Jphn Blackwell (25) guard Illinois forward Will Riley (7) during the second half of their game Tuesday, February 18, 2025 at the Kohl Center in Madison, Wisconsin. Wisconsin beat Illinois 95-74. Mark Hoffman/Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Mandatory Credit: Mark Hoffman/USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images | Milwaukee Journal Sentinel-Imagn Images

Battered and bruised yet again, Illinois (17-10, 9-8 Big Ten) traveled to No. 11 Wisconsin (21-5, 11-4 Big Ten) looking to pull off an upset win and move on from its hard-to-forget collapse at home against No. 14 Michigan State on Saturday.

But after hanging on until halftime – the Illini went into the break down just six – the wheels fell off in the second half. Illinois was outscored by 15 in the final 20 minutes en route to a 95-74 loss that ended its nine-game winning streak against the Badgers.

After the Illini's worst loss of the season (at least by deficit), here are three key numbers that explain how it all went down:

Minus-9

Tipping off the game with 6-foot-9 Ben Humrichous and 6-foot-6 Jake Davis at the five and four, the Illini were at a gargantuan size disadvantage against a Badgers squad led by a frontcourt of 7-footer Steven Crowl and 6-foot-11 Nolan Winter.

In the opening minutes, Illinois was dominated on the glass, allowing Wisconsin to corral 16 rebounds to its four. If Illini coach Brad Underwood had intended to take a wait-and-see approach to playing flu-plagued center Tomislav Ivisic, the wait didn't last long. Ivisic entered the game after four minutes and made a difference – though not a big enough one, as the Illini lost the battle of the boards by their biggest margin all season: nine. As Underwood put it after the game, "I mean, we're not very big. We've [just] got guys trying really hard."

7

Illinois lead guard Kasparas Jakucionis put together arguably his worst performance of the season, accounting for more turnovers (seven) than points (six). With the absence of Morez Johnson Jr. (broken wrist), and with multiple players stricken by illness, the Illini needed an exceptional showing out of their star – and didn’t get it.

Jakucionis matched his seven turnovers with zero assists and four personal fouls. Yet again, his turnovers were largely unforced errors – purely the product of lackadaisical passes, attempts to draw fouls or mishandling his dribble. As the Illini continue to spiral, they will need Jakucionis to get back on track to have any shot at making a run in either the Big Ten Tournament or NCAA Tournament. 

Kasparas Jakucionis is too smooth with it 😮‍💨 @IlliniMBB

(via @B1GMBBall)pic.twitter.com/ft8pPBySnd

— NCAA March Madness (@MarchMadnessMBB) February 12, 2025

41.7

Wisconsin’s ability to knock down threes at a high rate had already been well-documented going into Tuesday’s game. Yet the Illini still allowed the Badgers to get numerous wide-open looks – especially big man Steven Crowl, who went 3-for-3.

Playing its typical drop coverage, Illinois’ bigs would sag into the paint to help on ball screens, allowing Crowl to pop for in-rhythm catch-and-shoot opportunities – all of which he capitalized on. Illinois guard Kylan Boswell did his best to drape himself all over John Tonje, and Wisconsin’s dynamic-scoring guard simply hit shots (3-for-5 from deep). But it was the other Badgers shooters stationed around the arc who faced too little resistance from the Illini D.

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