No.20 Wisconsin (8-2, 0-1 Big Ten) vs. Illinois (6-2, 0-1 Big Ten)

Date/Time – Tuesday, December 10, 8 p.m.

Arena – State Farm Center (15,544)

Watch – Peacock (Noah Eagle, Robbie Hummel)

Radio – Badgers Radio Network (Matt Lepay and Brian Butch), Sirius 85, stream online on iHeartRadio.

Series – Illinois leads 117-90 (Illinois leads 70-28 in Champaign)

Last Meeting - Illinois won, 93-87, on March 17, 2024, in Minneapolis

Follow Online: The Badgers' Den

Twitter: @Badger_Blitz

Betting line: Illinois -6.5

Player to Watch: Klesmit has scored double figures in his four career meetings with Illinois, averaging 13.8 points by shooting 52.8 percent from the field (10-20 3FG).

Player to watch: Having scored in double figures in every game, Ivisic posted his third-straight double-double in Illinois’ 70-66 loss at Northwestern on Friday, scoring 15 points with 12 rebounds, five assists and a block. His five double-doubles this season moved him into a tie for fourth-most in the nation.

Illinois has won eight straight games over UW, its longest streak since winning 16 straight from February 1981 to January 1989.

After Illinois, Wisconsin’s next longest losing streak to a Big Ten team is against Michigan (three games).

Before this current 8-game win streak from Illinois, the Badgers had won 15 straight games in the series from 2011 to 2019. That was the longest all-time win streak of any team against the Illini.

The Badgers and the Illini met twice last season. Illinois claimed a 91-83 win in Madison during the regular season, then earned a 93-87 win over UW in the Big Ten tournament championship game in Minneapolis.

Wisconsin hasn’t started 0-2 in the Big Ten since the 2002-03 season. The Badgers won 12 of their final 14 conference games to win the outright conference title that season.

The Badgers have a seven-game road losing streak. UW has lost six straight Big Ten road games. The Badgers' last road win was a 61-59 victory at Minnesota on January 23.

Wisconsin has limited opponents to 29.4 percent from 3-point range this season. Only two of UW's last eight opponents have hit 30 percent or better from deep. Illinois shoots 33.9 percent from three.

Three different Badgers have scored 25+ pts this season: Tonje (41 pts vs. ARIZ, 33 pts vs. Pitt), Blackwell (30 pts vs. UTRGV), and Klesmit (26 pts vs. Montana State).

Wisconsin is taking (26.2 3FGA) and making (9.1 3FG) more 3-pointers than ever before. That's UW's highest average in both categories since the inception of the 3-point line in 1986-87.

Illinois has been ranked in the Associated Press Top 25 for two weeks this season, in the Nov. 18 and Dec. 2 polls. The Illini are receiving votes in the latest ranking released Monday.

Illinois is No. 12 in the NCAA NET rankings through games played on Dec. 8. The Illini rank first in the Big Ten.

The Illini rank third in the nation with a scoring margin of +23.8. Illinois' 13-point win vs. No.19 Arkansas was the largest by an unranked Illinois team over a top-25 foe under head coach Brad Underwood.

Illinois leads the Big Ten and ranks among the top NCAA leaders in: 3-point attempts per game (4th in NCAA, 33.9), 3-pointers made per game (6th, 11.5), total rebounds per game (1st, 47.4), defensive rebounds per game (1st; 34.0), rebound margin (2nd, +13.4), 3-point percentage defense (4th; .251), and field goal percentage defense (7th; .366).

The Fighting Illini's scoring average of 86.3 ppg ranks as the team's highest since 1988-89.

When these two teams played in March, AJ Storr scored a team-high 24 points and Chucky Hepburn added 20 points for Wisconsin, but the Badgers couldn’t beat an Illinois offense that featured Terrence Shannon (34 points) and Marcus Domask (20). None of those players will appear tonight in central Illinois.

The Badgers and the Illini have remade their rosters in different ways. UW has brought in some new pieces but has relied on returning players working in different roles or taking on large responsibilities. Illinois has undergone a complete overhaul. Returning only one rotation player, last year’s ninth-leading scorer Dra Gibbs-Lawhorn, the Illini entered the year returning 2.9 percent of their minutes, 2.2 percent of their points, and 2.0 percent of their rebounds.

Newcomers to the Illini roster have accounted for 92 percent of the team's scoring so far (635 of 690 total points), with freshmen accounting for 43.9 percent of those points (279). Most of the freshmen scoring comes from Jakucionis and forward Will Riley. Jakucionis has scored 20+ points in three consecutive games, becoming the first Illini freshman to do that in program history, while Riley has six double-digit scoring games off the bench. While not technically a freshman because of an eligibility matter, Ivisic might be Illinois' best newcomer with five double-doubles on the season.

With all the new faces, Illinois is rated 28th in adjusted offensive efficiency and 17th in adjusted defensive efficiency by Kenpom.com, the only Big Ten program to be rated in the top 30 in both categories.

One of the key areas to watch is the battle on the perimeter. Illinois is fourth in the country in three-point percentage defense (25.1 percent) and 353rd nationally in team percentage points from two (40.6 percent). Wisconsin’s ability to prevent teams from getting hot from beyond the arc has been critical to this point and will have to continue against a team that makes 11.5 threes per game.

Analytics predict Illinois wins this game over 70 percent of the time. I see more scenarios where Wisconsin loses this game than wins, especially with its interior defense being out of sync over the last two games against both a big frontcourt and a quicker backcourt. A competitive game will go Illinois’ way.

Worgull’s Prediction: Illinois by six.

Record: 7-3 (7-3 ATS)

Points off Prediction: 100 (10.0 per game)

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