Fresh off a 78-77 overtime loss to the Indiana Hoosiers, the Wisconsin Badgers are staying on the road against the Illinois Fighting Illini, facing a top-10 team for the fourth time this season.
Three of those have been on the road, with Wisconsin traveling to Provo to face the BYU Cougars earlier in the season, where they lost 98-70. They also lost at home to the Purdue Boilermakers by 16 and beat the Michigan Wolverines on the road 91-88 to secure their lone Quad 1 win so far this season.
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Now, they’ll take on an Illinois team that has been one of the best in the country this season, going 20-4 so far, including 11-2 in the Big Ten. The Fighting Illini were on an impressive 11-game winning streak before narrowly losing by three to the Michigan State Spartans this weekend.
For Wisconsin, the magic number has been 80 points. They’re 14-0 when scoring 80 points this season, but have only done so once in their past four games. Slow starts have been an issue for the Badgers, but they’ve also made some impressive double-digit comebacks. That was the case against Indiana this weekend, but Wisconsin couldn’t get the job done in an overtime period that was marred by officiating controversy.
The Badgers haven’t won at the State Farm Center since 2019, and they’re facing one of the most complete Illini teams under Brad Underwood. Illinois has star freshman Keaton Wagler, who has jumped into the top-five pick conversation with a strong season. He’s leading Illinois in points, assists, and steals, transitioning into that point guard role for the Illini, and has shot an impressive 43.3 percent from three.
But Illinois is complete. They’ve got great depth, physicality, scoring, and good defense. They will be without senior Kylan Boswell, who is still recovering from a broken right hand, but Illinois is still a 10.5-point favorite heading into Tuesday evening.
Can the Badgers find a way to another top-10 upset on the road? Stay tuned as our game thread is officially open!
