No. 19 Wisconsin (14-5, 8-4) vs. No. 12 Illinois (12-5, 8-3)
Game: Saturday, Feb. 6 inside the State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill.
Time: 1:30 PM
Watch: Fox (Kevin Kugler and Donny Marshall)
Listen: 1310 WIBA AM and 101.5 FM (Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas on the call); stream online on iHeartRadio
Follow Online: The Badgers' Den
Twitter: @Badger_Blitz
PRE-GAME NOTES
Things are about to ramp up for No. 19 Wisconsin in its quest for a Big Ten title. The Badgers game on Saturday against No. 12 Illinois kicks off a run that includes two contests against the Illini, two against No. 8 Iowa and one each versus No. 4 Michigan and No. 24 Purdue. Road games against Northwestern and Nebraska are also sandwiched in during that stretch.
A pair of losses in early January saw Illinois fall to No. 22 in the AP rankings. But the Illini have righted the ship and recently rattled off three impressive wins over Penn State, Iowa and, most recently, Indiana.
Leading the way for the Illini is junior Ayo Dosunmu, the reigning Big Ten Player of the Week. Dosunmu is in the midst of a stellar season, as his 21.2 points per game is currently second best in the Big Ten. The talented guard torched the Badgers a season ago by scoring 18 points and knocking down a game-sealing three-pointer.
"Ayo, he’s a great player. One of the best guards in the country and definitely in the league," said senior Brad Davison, who will likely share the responsibility of guarding Dosunmu. "You have to do your work early and make sure he doesn’t get comfortable.
"It’s not going to be one guy. It’s what we pride ourselves on. It’s going to be team defense - united and connected on that side of the ball. It’s going to take all five of us to try and contain him and slow him down on that side of the ball."
Dosunmu's running mate in the backcourt, Trent Frazier, has turned it on as of late, averaging 18.7 points over the last three games. On the block, Kofi Cockburn, the reigning Big Ten Freshman of the Year, has taken a big sophomore leap. The 7-foot, 285-pound center is averaging 16.8 points per game and a conference-best 10.2 rebounds per contest.
Providing a spark off the bench for Illinois is guard Andre Curbelo and talented big man Giorgi Bezhanishvili. Curbelo, a freshman, is averaging 8.8 points per contest on the season. His 5.5 assists per game during league play is second best in the league.
"They're really good in transition. They're playing a lot faster than they have in the past and I think that's the key for them shooting better from the three-point line," point guard D'Mitrik Trice told reporters Thursday afternoon.
"They get a lot of good looks because of all the attention inside and they have really good, capable shooters there to knock them down," Davison added. "Kind of have to pick your poison, which is why they are a really good team, why they’ve done really well, but we’re ready for it."
Coming off a performance where they held Penn State to zero points in transition, Wisconsin will look to have similar success Saturday afternoon.
"Transition defense is key for us in every game, let alone Illinois, who gets up and down with the best in the country," Davison said. "Offensively we have to take and make good shots, limit our turnovers, get to the free throw line, draw fouls so it slows them down, and then you have to hustle back. Get back as fast as you can, take away the rim and you have to force them into tough shots.”
Offensively, UW will be looking for Trice to follow in the footsteps of Nate Reuvers, who got back on track against Penn State. Trice, who has been Wisconsin's workhorse for most of the year, totaled just six points in the back-to-backs against the Nittany Lions, including a scoreless outing Tuesday night.
Saturday afternoon marks the 202nd meeting between the two programs in a rivalry that goes all the way back to 1906. Illinois leads the all-time series, 111-90, which includes a 68-28 record at home. The Fighting Illini came into the Kohl Center last year and left with a 71-70 victory that snapped a 15-game winning streak for the Badgers.
