One simple switch helped Wisconsin Badgers knock off Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament

CHICAGO - This looked like a nightmare matchup on paper for the Nolan Winter-less Badgers, and it was through the first 30+ minutes.

Wisconsin had won its last two games with Winter on the bench nursing his left ankle injury, but the Badgers weren't winning on the boards. UW gave up 16 offensive rebounds and was outrebounded by 12 at Purdue, and saw both numbers climb in Thursday's win over Washington (20 offensive rebounds, -16 on the glass).

The Illini ranked third nationally in offensive rebound percentage (39.1) and were flexing their muscles around the rim. When Zvonimir Ivisic made a layup with 11:34, the Illini were up 15 points, were +10 on the glass, and had 30 points in the paint.

"They were killing us," sophomore Austin Rapp said. "They got really good bigs, and they crash the glass every time. When they threw that first punch at us, going down 15, for us to come back in the game, we had to get stops."

Almost like flipping a switch, the physicality of Wisconsin changed. The Badgers started checking shooters more aggressively, had multiple players crash the glass and contest 50-50 balls, and took better angles in their pursuit of loose balls.

It was one of the big difference makers for No.23 Wisconsin in its 91-88 overtime victory over No.9 Illinois in the Big Ten Tournament quarterfinals at the United Center on Friday.

Kylan Boswell tried to send a message to Nick Boyd after forcing an early turnover. It ended up backfiring, as Boyd and John Blackwell took the game over to lead the #Badgers into the Big Ten Tournament semifinals over Illinois.https://t.co/p0uFNJbU4G
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) March 14, 2026

Wisconsin held Illinois without an offensive rebound in the final 16:30 and only five rebounds once the Badgers went down 15 in regulation. UW had 12 boards and two offensive rebounds over that same stretch, including a big cleanup of a Boyd missed three by Blackwell with 52 seconds left. That rebound got Blackwell to the foul line, where he made both free throws that eventually forced overtime.

Once in overtime, Wisconsin had the 9-7 edge on the boards.

"There's a point of (rebounding that's physical in terms of size and those things, but I felt a lot of rebounding is what's underneath your hood, meaning inside of you, and your grit and your toughness," head coach Greg Gard said. "You can rebound against size if you continue to have the fight to you and some toughness."

Three of Wisconsin's toughest players were a trio of first-year Big Ten players. Rapp and freshman forward Aleksas Bieliauskas were 4-for-14 from the floor, but the pair each had nine rebounds. Andrew Rohde continues to struggle with his shot (1-for-9), but three of his four rebounds were on the offensive glass.

"I haven't rebounded as well as I would have liked this year, but I need to step up in his absence," Rapp said of Winter. "I need to keep doing that for us. I need to help these guys out to get rebounds. I'm a big body, too, and I have to fill the presence of Nolan."

The lack of success on the glass led to Illinois' shots drying up in the paint. Of Illinois' final 21 shots, the Illini managed only eight shots around the rim. That proved problematic when Illinois missed 11 of its final 13 three-point shots.

"It's the level of trust we have in each other to come back and rebound," Rohde said. "That's a team-effort thing to do. There's no personal accolades on that. The level of buy-in that we have goes to show what kind of team we have."