MADISON, Wis. — John Tonje scored 31 points and No. 11 Wisconsin beat Illinois 95-74 on Tuesday to earn its fifth straight victory and end its recent run of futility in this series.
The Badgers (21-5, 11-4 Big Ten) had lost their last nine matchups with the Illini, including an 86-80 defeat Dec. 10 in Champaign. The Badgers had won 15 straight meetings immediately before that stretch.
Tonje’s big performance came three nights after he had 32 points in a 94-84 win at No. 13 Purdue, which was ranked seventh at the time. He’s the fourth player in school history to score at least 30 points in consecutive games.
The Badgers’ Steven Crowl added a season-high 20 points to go with seven rebounds and five assists. John Blackwell had 16 points.
Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn had 17 points, Ben Humrichous 13 and Will Riley 11 for the Illini (17-10, 9-8).
Takeaways
Illinois: The Illini didn’t have second-leading rebounder Morez Johnson Jr. because of a broken wrist. Tomislav Ivišić, Illinois’ top rebounder and second-leading scorer, had seven points and three rebounds while playing through an illness.
Wisconsin: The Badgers are scoring 82 points per game, on pace for their highest average since 1970-71, when they scored a school-record 86.3 points per game. This was their 15th game with at least 80 points.
Key moment
Blackwell made three straight baskets to turn a 13-all tie into a 19-13 Badgers lead. They stayed ahead the rest of the way.
Key stat
The Badgers had a 39-30 rebounding edge. The Illini came in with a plus-9.7 rebound margin that ranked second among all Division I teams behind only Milwaukee. The Illini outrebounded the Badgers 40-29 on Dec. 10.
Up next
Illinois faces No. 3 Duke on Saturday at Madison Square Garden in New York, while Wisconsin hosts Oregon.