Preview: Wisconsin looks for redemption against Illinois on senior day

No. 23 Wisconsin (16-8, 10-7) vs. No. 5 Illinois (17-6, 13-4)

Game: Saturday, Feb. 27 inside the Kohl Center (Madison, WI)

Time: 1:00 PM

Watch: ESPN (Jason Benetti and Dan Dakich)

Listen: 1310 WIBA AM and 101.5 FM (Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas on the call); stream online on iHeartRadio

Line: -4.5 (Fanduel)

Prediction: Wisconsin 70, Illinois 65

Follow Online: The Badgers' Den

Twitter: @Badger_Blitz

Following an impressive performance on the road against Northwestern, Wisconsin returns to the Kohl Center for the final time this season to battle Illinois. Each school comes into the Sunday's matchup with different situations: The Badgers have had nearly a full week off while the Fighting Illini are playing their third game in five days.

The biggest news for Illinois is the injury star point guard Ayo Dosunmu sustained during its loss to Michigan State. Dosunmu reportedly broke his nose against the Spartans and will more than likely be sidelined against Wisconsin.

"I'll leave that all up to the doctors," head coach Brad Underwood said following a win over Nebraska Thursday night. "We'll do everything we can to expedite that process, but we will never jeopardize his health and well-being. There's some other issues that have to be dealt with that we'll keep private.

"We're a man down, but we're gonna fight like hell. I'm proud of (the team) because they've been nothing but incredible."

Dosunmu tallied a triple double - 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists - in the first matchup against Wisconsin earlier this season. The junior guard has firmly placed himself in the race for national player of the year. A pair of freshmen, Andre Curbelo and Adam Miller, filled in nicely for Dosunmu against Nebraska. Miller totaled 18 points and Curbelo ran the show for the Illini with 10 points, 12 rebounds and eight assists.

Illinois had just one day to prepare to play without Dosunmu and won't have much more time to prep for Wisconsin. His likely absence takes away one of two future NBA players for the Illini. In the front-court, Kofi Cockburn is a handful. Against the Cornhuskers, the 7-foot sophomore paced the team with 24 points and seven rebounds. Earlier this year against the Badgers, Cockburn had 23 points and 14 rebounds.

UW is hoping to build on one of its most impressive wins of the season. It's no secret the group had been shooting poorly before a 68-51 victory over Northwestern on Sunday.

"Got this win and we have to make sure we continue this momentum moving forward. But, personally, I am not satisfied. We have to prove ourselves more," Micah Potter said following the win over the Wildcats. "Have a couple days off here, then we'll have a couple days of prep for Illinois and we are looking to get payback.”

Potter, who has seen an uptick in playing time, will be one of the most important players on the floor given his recent success on the offensive end. The redshirt senior is coming off a 19-point (7-of-8 shooting) outing against the Wildcats; he poured in 23 points in the pervious contest against Michigan.

Wisconsin didn't do itself any favors in the first meeting against the Illini. The team dug itself a huge hole by shooting 41.7 percent from the floor and just 4-of-24 from beyond the arc. D'Mitrik Trice, who paced UW with 22 points in the first meeting, thinks they've improved as a team.

"For one, I don't think we'll shoot as poorly as we did. Definitely feel like guys are starting to get a little bit more confident," Trice said Wednesday afternoon. "Numbers are starting to rise for a few players, so I think that's going to be key. But I think, defensively, we finally found our niche to where we can click and we know the mistakes that we did make in the Illinois game. We knew that Kofi and Ayo were going to be the main focal points for our team and we didn't do a good job of making them uncomfortable."

Saturday afternoon will be the 203rd meeting between the two programs with Illinois leading the series, 112-90. The Badgers, though, own a 59-40 advantage in Madison. The Illini came out on top in the last two meetings but Wisconsin won 15-straight prior.