Frank Kaminsky
Frank Kaminsky scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half and the 5th-ranked Wisconsin Badgers went on to beat Illinois 68-49 in Big Ten men’s basketball action at the Kohl Center.
Kaminsky added 11 rebounds for his Big Ten leading 10th double-double of the season. He hit his first six field-goal attempts, but went scoreless for the first 15 minutes of the second half before adding 6-points down the stretch.
Bronson Koenig scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half to help carry the Badger offense. He hit 3 of 5 three-pointers and 6 of 10 field-goal attempts overall. Koenig also added four assists and didn’t have any turnovers.
Nigel Hayes finished with 14 points and Sam Dekker added 10.
Wisconsin (23-2, 11-1 Big Ten) moved 2 1/2 games in front of second-place Maryland and Purdue, both 9-4 in league play.
Illinois (17-9, 7-6) saw its four-game winning streak come to an end. The Illini lost their 8th straight to the Badgers.
The Badgers outscored Illinois 36-14 in the paint and their 15 rebounds was one more than the 14 defensive rebounds for the Illini.
The Badgers are off until Wednesday when they travel to Penn State.
AUDIO: Sam Dekker on the Badgers hanging on to their big 2nd half lead :18