Five Takeaways from No.19 Wisconsin's 75-60 Loss at No.12 Illinois

Wisconsin shot 53.3 percent in the second half, a blistering performance that saw the Badgers score in the low post, the mid-range and from the perimeter.

But with the Badgers having the inability to lock in defensively once again, they were outscored by two points after halftime. Combined with the hole the offense dug for itself in the first 20 minutes, No.19 Wisconsin suffered a 75-60 defeat to No.12 Illinois at the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill., Saturday.

The loss ends a seven-game road winning streak in the series for the Badgers (14-6, 8-5 Big Ten), which has bigger problems on their hands with the same breakdowns on both ends of the floor continuing to occur.

Here are my five takeaways from Saturday’s defeat.

Two consistent things are happening with every Wisconsin telecast. First, the network showing a graphic of how old the Badgers are. The second being how their performance on the court fails to live up to that.

It’s hard to pick which end of the court was more frustrating in a first half that Illinois did whatever it wanted. The Illini started 8-for-12 to build a lead, kept Wisconsin’s offense off-balanced while Illinois went through a shooting lull and then fed the ball inside to score on dunks or from the free throw line.

UW trailed 36-23 at halftime and was probably fortunate the deficit wasn’t greater considering Illinois – the conference’s best 3-point shooting team – was 2-for-10 from the perimeter. The Badgers aren’t built to be able to overcome double-digit deficits against efficient offenses. Despite UW’s hot shooting in the second half, Wisconsin never got closer than seven points.

D'Mitrik Trice led Wisconsin with 22 points but needed 18 shots to get there. Nate Reuvers was the only other player to hit double figures, finishing with 10 points. The rest of the roster went 11-for-32 (34.4 percent).

Asked after the game about what confounded him more in the first half, head coach Greg Gard said it was how poorly the Badgers shot the ball.

“The way we shot it offensively, we almost had to pitch a perfect game defensively,” he said. “That was going to be our counter to the size of Colburn was to try and hit some shots. We had to be able to do that, and we were not able to do so.”

To get Cockburn away from the low post, Wisconsin needed to stretch the floor and hit some shots. Going 0-for-9 from the perimeter in the first half wasn’t going to do it, and 4-for-15 in the second half wasn’t much better. The four made 3-pointers and the 16.7 shooting percentage were each season worsts, with Brad Davison (0-for-5), Micah Potter (0-for-5) and D’Mitrik Trice (2-for-7) accountable for the bulk of the misses.

A lot of the looks were open, quality looks that continue not to fall for this offense.

“You got to perform,” Gard said. “When the lights are on, you got to produce.”

There have been games this year where the physicality of Wisconsin’s defense has been brought into question. Saturday afternoon gave credence to the point that the Badgers simply are more technical than physical, but UW didn’t even do that well against the massive human known as Kofi Cockburn.

Cockburn – lightly listed at 285 pounds – dominated the low post defenders who dared try to guard him and delivered 12 points and 10 rebounds in the first half. Cockburn had as many rebounds as Wisconsin did, as Illinois outrebounded Wisconsin by 18 in the first half and outscored them by eight in the paint.

The Badgers struggled with ball pressure, back-side help and chasing on ball screens, things that resulted in easy looks in the paint with lobs over UW players’ heads to Cockburn.

“They’re getting downhill and they’re just throwing it up to him,” Reuvers said. “Other teams, a lot of guys don’t have their Kofi Cockburn where they can throw that up. We’re going to have to probably change something up here because it was not working what we were doing.”

As the biggest player in Wisconsin’s rotation, Potter got sucked into trying to do too much to help counter Cockburn. After Wisconsin cut the lead to 48-41, Potter fouled Cockburn on an offensive rebound and turned the ball over on UW’s next two possessions, causing momentum to permanently flip.

It felt like Cockburn was getting a touch in the post on every possession and why wouldn’t he, considering Potter was giving up leverage and Reuvers and Tyler Wahl aren’t built in a way that would intimidate Illinois’ big man.

“He’s so big that you have to cut him off,” Reuvers said. “He’s trying to go middle, and he just spins back on you. Basically, once he catches it that deep, there’s not a whole lot you can do there … The main thing is don’t let him catch it, but that’s easier said than done.”

The Big Ten Freshman of the Year last year, Cockburn was made to look like a first-team All-American against the Badgers, which were out-rebound 46-19 (11-2 on the offensive glass) and outscored, 38-28, in the paint.

“We’ve got to be more locked in, play more confident,” Reuvers said. “On the offensive end, we’ve got to be more confident, flowing, moving around, not being robotic. On the defensive end, just making sure we are locked in so they’re not getting easy buckets.”

Wisconsin knew Ayo Dosunmu – who could have gone pro after last season – was going to be a focal point for Illinois, and the Badgers’ defense had a game plan to take away the junior’s ability to control the ball with his right hand. It didn’t work, as UW struggled to stop him from coming downhill and creating within the offense with the high ball screen.

The result was 21 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds – the first triple-double for Illinois since 2001.

“Guys want to know what life is like at that level, they just saw it,” Gard said.

Davison said earlier this week the Badgers were built to slow a talented offensive team like Illinois. Clearly, he’s mistaken, or foolishly optimistic, because the latest results show the Badgers can’t stop good offenses.

Wisconsin has played a team ranked in the top 20 of KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency rating five times in the last eight games, and the Badgers’ defense has been beaten soundly in four of them by allowing over a point per possession.

Michigan shot 51.6 percent from the field, Ohio State shot 50.9 percent and Penn State hung 50 points on the Badgers in the second half. The only win was Tuesday when the Badgers held the Nittany Lions to 38.6 percent at home.

Illinois – ranked eighth in KenPom’s metrics – shot 52.8 percent overall, 58.3 percent in the second half and averaged 1.103 points per possession, despite making only five 3-point shots.

Wisconsin may rank as one of the best defensive units in the Big Ten but the last few games show why stats can be misleading.