STAT PACK: Wisconsin's Comeback Falls Short in 74-69 Loss to No.5 Illinois

It was too little, too late for No.23 Wisconsin to salvage an ugly offensive performance.

Cutting a 14-point deficit down to two possessions in the final 90 seconds, including getting as close as three with 35.7 seconds to go, the Badgers ultimately ran out of time in a 74-69 defeat to No.5 Illinois at the Kohl Center Saturday.

Kofi Cockburn scored 19 points for Illinois (18-6, 14-4 Big Ten), which was playing its third game in five days and overcame 20 turnovers to sweep the season series from the Badgers for the first time since 2005.

Senior D’Mitrik Trice scored the final 19 points over the last 2:12 for No.23 Wisconsin (16-9, 10-8) to score a game-high 29 points. The Badgers haven’t won consecutive conference games since January 15-20 and finished its abbreviated season at the Kohl Center with 11 wins and five losses.

We take a closer look at the game in the BadgerBlitz Stat Pack.

- Prior to tip off, Wisconsin honored its six scholarship seniors (Trevor Anderson, Brad Davison, Aleem Ford, Micah Potter, Nate Reuvers and Trice) and senior walk-on Walt McGrory. All seven are either pursing master’s degrees or on pace to graduate in May.

- Illinois was without point guard Ayo Dosunmu (facial injury) for the second straight game. Dosunmu recorded a triple-double in the Illini’s 75-60 victory over Wisconsin in Champaign on February 6.

- In his place, Andre Curbelo had a career-high 17 points and Da’Monte Williams’ 12 points were his most since January 2.

- Shooting less than 42 percent for the fifth straight game, Wisconsin shot 34.8 percent from the floor (24-for-69) and 32.3 percent from 3-point range (10-for-31).

- Trice went 9-for-16 from the floor before fouling out in the final seconds. His teammates went 15-for-53 (28.3 percent), as Potter (5-for-12) Reuvers (3-for-10), Ford (1-for-7) and Davison (1-for-9) all struggled.

- UW’s offense continues to flounder out of the gates. After a turnover on their first possession led to a fast-break dunk, the Badgers missed 14 of their first 15 shots and trailed by double figures after barely seven minutes. The only way it could have been worse was if UW hadn’t forced six turnovers on Illinois’ first 12 possessions.

- Wisconsin was down 22-10 and shooting just 4-for-23 from the floor, including 1-8 from 3-point range. Starting with an Anderson 3-pointer, Davison delivered a steal and score, Ford with a three and, after an Illinois timeout and an empty possession, Reuvers hit a jumper off an offensive rebound. UW was shooting less than 30 percent, but its 10-0 run cut the deficit to 22-20.

- Illinois had 11 turnovers in 12:50 of game time (23 possession). Combined with UW grabbing three offensive rebounds, Wisconsin attempted 14 more shots than the visitors at that point.

- As quick as Wisconsin’s offense caught fire, the Badgers fizzled. UW made only two field goals after Reuvers’ jumper at 5:43 and made just two free throws. UW finished the first half 10-for-37 from the floor and 3-for-14 from 3-point range.

- Illinois closed the first half on an 8-2 run, including a four-point possession that included a flagrant-1 foul on Davison for a hook-and-hold. Leading 37-26 at the break, Illinois – despite 12 turnovers – shot 65 percent from the floor (13-for-20).

- Wisconsin tried to slowly inch its way back into the game in the second half. With Illinois starting 2-for-11 from the floor, the Badgers’ starting 4-for-14 allowed them to cut the lead to as little as six. It could have been better had UW not gone 0-for-6 from 3-point range and missed a free throw.

- Leading 42-35 with 13:15 left, Illinois effectively put the game away with a 7-0 run that gave the Illini their biggest lead of the game.

- Trice’s 3-pointer at 9:14 of the second half was the first made perimeter shot from Wisconsin since Ford’s 3-pointer during UW’s 10-0 run at 7:14, a span of 11 straight misses.

- Wisconsin trailed by double digits from the 11:18 to the 2:12 mark. It was at that point where Trice scored eight points on three possessions, UW forced a turnover and Cockburn missed the front end of the bonus. That run closed the gap to four points with 90 seconds left.

- Williams continued to hit big shots on UW, as his deep jumper with 66 seconds left stalled the momentum and caused an uproar from the UW coaches who thought he traveled while taking a step back toward the 3-point line.

- Trice kept coming, scoring 11 points on the next four possessions to cut the deficit to one with seven seconds left.

- UW was unable to tie the game because Illinois went 10-for-10 from the line over the final 44 seconds and the Badgers – trailing by three with five seconds left – never got a tying shot off. Anderson was fouled and missed both free throws, clinching the win.

- The Badgers begin the final week of the regular season with a road trip to Purdue. The first meeting between the two schools this season is scheduled for an 8 p.m. tipoff and will be on either ESPN or ESPN2.