CHAMPAIGN, Ill. - The Wisconsin men's basketball team (3-4 Big Ten, 12-7 overall) entered Champaign yesterday looking to keep their conference record above .500 and to avoid losing a fourth consecutive game, but the Badgers' bout with No. 25 Illinois (5-2, 17-3) ended in a disappointing 57-64 defeat. Bitter from suffering three losses at the hands of the Badgers last season and in the two previous meetings during the 2007 season, the Illini got vengeance Saturday afternoon in front of a capacity crowd in Assembly Hall.
[Illinois head coach Bruce Weber] reminded us we got beat the last five times,"" Illinois sophomore guard Demetri McCamey said. ""We took it kind of personal and just all tried to beat them and be successful.""
The Badgers come out of the gates firing as senior forward Joe Krabbenhoft hit a 3-pointer to put the first points on the board.
The contest stayed close and Wisconsin still maintained a 9-7 lead five minutes into the game before Illinois sophomore guard Demetri McCamey made a layup to tie it up. This jumpstarted a 13-2 run by the Illini that gave them a healthy lead for the remainder of the game. In that stretch, Wisconsin was 1-for-5 shooting from the field and went down 20-11.
The half ended with Wisconsin down 32-25 and went into the locker room shooting only 33.3 percent from the field.
The second half did not bring with it a solution to Wisconsin's shooting woes. Out of the half, Illinois outscored Wisconsin nine points to five before a technical foul was called on the Wisconsin bench. UW head coach Bo Ryan was applauding in the direction of Krabbenhoft - who was called for a foul under the basket - and one of the referees rang his bench up with the technical foul.
""I have no idea,"" Ryan said of the call. ""I was applauding Joe Krabbenhoft for taking the charge. That was my thought'¦ Maybe somebody behind me said something on the bench, or maybe one of the assistants stood up or whatever. I have no idea, because there was no explanation.""
Illinois made all four of the ensuing free throws to make the score 45-30 and take its largest lead of the game. Despite a respectable attempt at a comeback, which included two late 3-point shots from junior guard Trévon Hughes and Krabbenhoft and a layup from freshman guard Jordan Taylor to make the score 62-57 with 25 seconds left, Wisconsin could not come up with any more points.
Despite the discrepancy in shooting, Wisconsin played well statistically. The Badgers accumulated two more rebounds, had six more steals, and committed five fewer turnovers than the Illini. But Illinois shot 50 percent from the field compared to the Badgers' 35.6 percent for the game. Open looks were hard to come by for Wisconsin, as Illinois played a tight defense that put up four blocks on the afternoon. In addition, McCamey played a particularly potent game on offense for Illinois, hitting six of 10 from the field, amassing a game-high 25 points and dishing out seven assists. That made all the difference in a game that was well-played on both ends.
""With their bigs, it's tough to get to the rim and with the perimeter defenders that are now much more mature - Chester [Frazier], McCamey, you've got Brock coming in there and [Trent] Meacham,"" Ryan said. ""You got guys now that handled a tough year like last year with the idea that you just got to keep believing that you're going to be better. And they are.""
Indeed, with a 2007-'08 campaign in which they finished 16-19 and had only five conference wins, the Illini came into the season with low expectations from national pundits. However, they have certainly compiled a respectable season thus far, including three wins against top 25 ranked opponents in the last month and now has the Big Ten's longest active home win streak at eight with the victory against Wisconsin.
""I've seen every game they played, just like we do for every team we play,"" Ryan said. ""I'll see every game. So if you're saying to me, 'under the radar,' we knew what they had.""
