Wisconsin basketball outlasted Illinois 95-74 on Tuesday night, avenging both an early-season loss and five years of losing results to the top rival.
The Badgers are now 21-5 on the season and 11-4 in Big Ten play. They are in a prime position in both the Big Ten and national standings entering the final weeks of the regular season. Broadly, not much has gone wrong since the team’s Dec. 10 loss to the Illini became its third straight defeat, at the time dropping it to 8-3 on the season and 0-2 in Big Ten play. Wisconsin is 13-2 since that contest, the only two losses coming on the road to UCLA and Maryland, two of the conference’s best.
While not much has gone wrong for Wisconsin, a lot has for Illinois. The team has been dealing with both injury and illness over the last month. The illness has been especially challenging. Head coach Brad Underwood noted postgame that it cost center Tomislav Ivisic seven pounds and several weeks of practice. Ivisic played against the Badgers, though he was far from 100% and was forced to come off the bench.
Underwood addressed those continuing ailments postgame, also clarifying why he and his team didn’t shake hands with Wisconsin after the game:
“End of the day, guys, we don’t have very, very healthy bodies,” Underwood said. “[Tomislav Ivisic] didn’t make the trip with us. He drove up before the game because he said he wanted to try to play. Jake Davis got sick right after pregame and said he wanted to try to start, but he didn’t even join us at the half. He was over in the restroom. That’s why we didn’t shake hands with them after the game. They don’t need this. In 38 years I’ve never seen anything like what’s happening to our team with Tre [White], Will [Riley], now Tommy. Tommy’s literally practiced maybe once in a month from mono. Then the ankle injury and now this.”
Given Wisconsin’s recent history with handshake line mishaps, specifically two years ago with then-Michigan head coach Juwan Howard, some within the building raised an antenna when Illinois left the court without conducting the typical handshake line tradition. But as Underwood noted, his team-wide illness is best not spread through the rest of the conference.
For further context on why a clarification was necessary, here is his full exchange with Greg Gard after the game:
Brad Underwood and Greg Gard meet at mid-court after the game and elect not to do full handshake lines.
Not sure why, hopefully find out soon in postgame press conference. pic.twitter.com/qBeWXq0rzj
— Glenn Kinley (@glenn_kinley) February 19, 2025
The effects of Illinois’ ailments were seen during the 40 minutes of play. The team’s frontcourt has been decimated, both by Ivisic’s illness and forward Morez Johnson Jr.’s broken wrist. Wisconsin outrebounded Illinois 39-to-30 as a result, mostly dominating the game inside. That is a significant departure from the Illini’s 40-29 rebounding advantage in their win over the Badgers in December.
“They’re confident, they’re playing great,” Underwood continued postgame. “They’ve got great role identification. They’re so old. I mean I coached that last year. When you’ve got one of the oldest teams in the country, you have no idea how valuable that is because you gain confidence. Now you can just joystick guys and the way you coach and what you do. They’ve got great role identification, and that’s pretty nice to see. It’s not like [Steven] Crowl is a young guy. They’re really really good.”
The game may not have finished differently had Illinois been at full strength. Wisconsin star wing John Tonje delivered another signature performance, tallying 31 points, three rebounds and four steals on an efficient nine-of-15 from the floor. Crowl added 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists on seven-of-10 shooting, while John Blackwell also chipped in a tone-setting 16 points.
As seen throughout the year, this Wisconsin team is nearly impossible to beat when each of its top options are clicking offensively.
The result is a significant one for Wisconsin, regardless if it came against a shorthanded Illinois team. It snapped a five-year losing streak to the rival, plus held its current place near the top of the Big Ten standings. As Underwood and others confirmed postgame, Illinois skipping the handshake line was done for Wisconsin’s benefit.
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