Dominating the Rivalry: Wisconsin Badgers Basketball vs. Illinois

Other than an improbable run to the Final Four in 2000, there had been few bright spots since the Badgers hung their 1947 Big Ten championship banner. Not only were there no Big Ten titles over that 54-year stretch, but Wisconsin also had four times as many losing seasons (32) as top-four finishes in the league (eight). There were just four NCAA tournament appearances, including 47 straight seasons without one.

So, when Dick Bennett abruptly retired in November 2000, he took with him some of the excitement as the Badgers stumbled to a 13-loss season and a first-round upset. Ryan and associate head coach Greg Gard didn’t wait long to change the culture.

Winning back-to-back Big Ten titles in their first two seasons, the Badgers have been dominant in winning 71.1 percent of its games during Ryan’s 14 seasons as head coach and in the last six-plus seasons under Gard (500-203 through Jan.30). UW has won eight Big Ten titles, appeared in 18 of the last 19 NCAA tournaments, and advanced to two Final Fours.

Since Ryan and Gard arrived, Wisconsin has the most Big Ten wins and the best winning percentage in the conference at 249-115 (.684) and has flipped many conference rivalries that had long been one-sided affairs.

Over the course of this Big Ten season, BadgerBlitz will examine Wisconsin’s series with the 13 other conference teams, what it was before Ryan and Gard arrived, what the series looks like now, and some memorable moments along the way.

Today, we look at Wisconsin’s series with Illinois.

The Numbers

Pre 2001-02: Illinois led 99-64

Since 2001-02: Wisconsin leads 26-14

Ryan’s Record vs. Illinois: 19-11 (6-6 in Champaign, 3-2 neutral)

Gard’s Record vs. Illinois: 7-3 (4-1 in Champaign, 0-0 neutral)

Record when both teams were ranked: Ryan 3-3; Gard 0-2

When Wisconsin was ranked, Illinois was not: Ryan 10-3, Gard 2-0

When Illinois was ranked, Wisconsin was not: Ryan 4-5, Gard 0-0

When both teams were unranked: Ryan 2-0, Gard 5-1

Pre-2001

Like many of the series we’ve analyzed thus far, Wisconsin basketball had a commanding lead at the onset of the conference rivalry and proceeded to give it back during the lean years of the 50s, 60s, 70s, and 80s – four decades where the Badgers had just 10 total winning seasons.

Wisconsin won the first six meetings when the series began in March 1906 and 15 of the first 18. At one point, the Badgers were 14 games up in the series against the Illini (30-14). But when UW’s five-game win streak against them ended in 1933, the Badgers would have to wait nearly 30 years before winning consecutive games again.

From 1933 through 1961, Illinois went 35-10 against UW by going 17-3 at home and 3-0 in overtime. After UW’s modest three-game win streak ended in 1963, it would be another 34 years before the Badgers won three in a row. The most disappointing decade was the 80s when the Badgers were 2-18 in the series.

The Ryan/Gard Era

Under Ryan: It took a while for Wisconsin to gain traction in the series in part because the Illini were really good. Of the first 11 meetings in the series, Illinois was ranked in the AP Top 15 nine times, including seven in the top 10 and three as the No.1 team in the country. The Badgers went 3-6 in those games, the wins being in 2002 (a home 72-66 win over No.7 Illinois), 2003 (clinching the conference title in the regular-season finale), and 2004 (a 14-point win that earned the school’s first Big Ten tournament title). The lowlight was naturally top-ranked Illinois ending Wisconsin’s 38-game home win streak – the longest in the nation at the time – in 2005. Illinois proved winning at Kohl Center was no fluke when they won in Madison by 15 a year later.

But when Ryan won his first game in Champaign, on his fifth try, in 2007, the last Big Ten arena he needed to check off his list, the Badgers started to tip the scale in their favor. Beginning with that win, the Badgers won the next five games in the series – including the 2007 Big Ten Tournament final – for their longest winning streak over Illinois since the 1930s. Illinois recovered to win four of the next six, including becoming the first team to beat Ryan three times at the Kohl Center, but Ryan’s group won his final eight games in the series, six by double figures.

Under Gard: Wisconsin’s new coach picked up where his mentor left off. Gard’s Badgers won seven straight games in the series to push the winning streak to 15. Not only was it the longest winning streak for UW in the series, but it was also the longest winning streak for the Badgers against any Big Ten school. One of the highlights was in February 2016, when the Badgers erased a 13-point deficit in less than five minutes with a 17-0 run. UW won by nine by outscoring Illinois, 36-14, the final 12 minutes.

Illinois point guard Ayo Dosunmu wouldn’t let UW's run get to 16, as he either scored or assisted on Illinois’ final 14 points to help the Illini pull out a one-point win in 2020.

The Illini stabilized a once-sinking ship last year, too, sweeping the Badgers for the first time since 2005 with their best team (ranked No.12 in the first meeting and No.3 in the second) since that national runner-up team from the same year.

Overall, Ryan/Gard went 2-2 against Bill Self, 12-9 against Bruce Weber, 7-0 against John Groce, and 4-3 against Brad Underwood.

Coach's Perspective

“Bruce is a really, really good coach and his Purdue background meant they were going to play tough. It was really physical basketball and real aggressive defensively. It was a battle of attrition. You had to be able to hang with them physically, which was always the number one key. A lot of the games were close. I’m surprised Bo’s record is as strong as it is because they were tough.”

- Former Wisconsin assistant Gary Close

The Memorable Moment

Wisconsin shocked everybody by winning a share of the Big Ten title in 2002, Ryan’s first season at the helm. One year later, one of the best players Ryan ever coached made sure that the first title wasn’t a fluke.

Devin Harris hit the second of his two free throws with four-tenth of a second left, giving the 24th-ranked Badgers a 60-59 victory over No. 14 Illinois.

It was the first outright conference title for Wisconsin since 1947, the first consecutive conference crowns since 1923-24 and Ryan became only the third coach in league history to win titles in his first two seasons.

Senior Kirk Penney led the Badgers with 14 points, while Harris had 13, Alando Tucker 12, and Mike Wilkinson 11. UW led by 10 points with just under six minutes left and 59-55 with a minute remaining, but Illinois’s Brian Cook tied the game with nine seconds left.

Harris got the inbounds after a timeout and drew a foul on Dee Brown on his drive to the basket. A 77 percent free-throw shooter, Harris missed the first to create an audible groan from the crowd. The reaction was vastly different when the second one hit was pure.

“I think everybody in the building knows if he makes the first one, we're going to miss the second,” Ryan said. “I had already told the officials we're calling a timeout after he makes the first one. Oops!'”

Illinois was seeking a share of its third straight Big Ten title under current Kansas coach Bill Self, but the Illini never led after the 6:15 mark of the first half.

Wisconsin athletics director Pat Richter presented Ryan with the Big Ten trophy after the game when a conference official failed to show up on the podium to present it on behalf of the league.

"This is a dynasty!'' Richter said as he handed the trophy to Ryan.

He turned out to be right.