Illinois Turns Back Wisconsin
Dee Brown sat on the bench more than he had all season. He was on the court down the stretch, however, and made two long three-point baskets to seal unbeaten and top-ranked Illinois’ 70-59 victory over No. 20 Wisconsin on Saturday.
Illinois improved to 25-0 overall and 11-0 in the Big Ten Conference.
“These guys got me the ball in good position,” Brown said, looking at Deron Williams and Luther Head, who led the Illini with 26 points. “I just set my feet and took a couple of shots.”
Williams made two key three-pointers to ignite a 10-0 run early in the second half that erased a one-point Wisconsin lead and put the Illini in control.
The Illini tied the school record with their 25th consecutive win. That streak was set over three seasons from February 1914 to February 1916. It was Illinois’ 19th straight win at home and was played in front of a record Assembly Hall crowd of 16,865.
Head’s 26 points tied his season high and came without benefit of a three-pointer. He was 12 of 13 from the free-throw line.
But it was Brown who brought the crowd’s loudest roar.
Just after picking up his fourth foul, he made the first big three-pointer with 3:10 to go and only two seconds left on the shot clock. It ended a 6-2 run by the Badgers and gave Illinois a 57-49 lead.
“Every time they made a run, we made a shot,” Brown said.
The Badgers (16-6, 7-4) got a basket from Kammron Taylor and Illinois’ Roger Powell Jr. made two free throws to make it 59-51 before Brown pushed Illinois’ lead to double figures for the first time with an NBA-range jumper with 1:43 left that made it 62-51. He finished four of six from three-point range.
“When a guy hits a three from that range, you don’t have an answer for that,” Wisconsin Coach Bo Ryan said.
Brown finished with 16 points in a season-low 26 minutes. Williams scored 15 points.
Alando Tucker scored 24 points for the Badgers.
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Running the Table
Illinois is bidding to become only the seventh team in 86 years to go unbeaten in the Big Ten, but it isn’t the only team dominating its conference. After Saturday’s games, with Boston University handing Vermont its first America East loss, there are six other Division I schools that are unbeaten in league play. The perfect seven:
*--* School Conference Record Davidson Southern (South Division) 13-0 Illinois Big Ten 11-0 Kansas Big 12 10-0 Kentucky Southeastern (East Division) 10-0 Pacific Big West 14-0 Penn Ivy 7-0 Utah Mountain West 9-0
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