MADISON, Wis. - The No. 22 Wisconsin Badgers took down the Illinois Fighting Illini 64-58 on Monday night at the Kohl Center, getting themselves back on track after back-to-back losses to Michigan and Michigan State. BadgerBlitz.com's 3-point shot is included below, breaking down how and why the Badgers were able to come out on top.
1 - The Badgers overcame their early mistakes
It’s hard to win games in the Big Ten with any consistency when you start a game poorly on offense the way the Badgers did on Monday night against Illinois. Wisconsin started the game just 2 for 15 from the field and struggled to knock down open shots while the Fighting Illini focused on stopping Ethan Happ, but they battled back in the second half and shot 48.1 percent after halftime to power themselves to a come-from-behind victory over the surging Illini.
2 - Khalil Iverson comes through in the clutch
The Badgers weren’t able to get Happ going in the game, but fellow senior Khalil Iverson picked up some of the slack and scored a season-high 16 points for the Badgers while pulling down nine rebounds. Iverson made plays all over the court for UW - he played well close to the rim, hit a jump shot, pulled down rebounds, and got a few steals for the Badgers as well. It was an impressive all-around performance from Iverson when they needed someone to step up.
3 - Illinois bottled up Ethan Happ
Not many teams have been able to stymie Ethan Happ in the way the Fighting Illini did on Monday night. Happ finished the game with just six points - he was 3-for-7 from the field, and played in just 28 minutes of the game. Happ was 0-for-3 from the free throw line as well - and the Badgers kept him on the bench during the final minutes of the game as the Illini tried to get the Badgers to miss shots at the line to give them an opening to work their way back in. Happ will have better games ahead of him, but you can bet other teams will try and replicate what Illinois just did to Wisconsin’s senior All-American candidate.
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John Veldhuis covers Wisconsin football, basketball and recruiting for BadgerBlitz.com on the Rivals.com network. Follow him on Twitter at @JohnVeldhuis.
