File Photo – D’Mitrik Trice(Photo by David Stluka)
The Wisconsin Badgers (14-6, 8-5 Big Ten) missed out on a chance to move into a tie for second place in the Big Ten, falling to Illinois (13-5, 9-3) 75-60 on Saturday in Champaign.
The Illini extended their winning streak to four games and moved to within one-half game of the first-place Michigan Wolverines, who are still on pause and won’t play again until Feb. 14 against the Badgers.
Kofi Cockburn led the Illini with 23 points and 14 rebounds, collecting nine dunks against the Badgers. Ayo Dosunmu added 21 points, 12 rebounds and 12 assists for the Illini, who shot 52.8% (28 of 53) from the field.
The Badgers made a couple of small second half runs but could never get any closer than seven points.
D’Mitrik Trice shook off a short offensive slump by scoring 22 points for the Badgers in the loss. Nate Reuvers added 11 points, while Tyler Wahl and Jonathan Davis added seven points each. But senior guard Brad Davison missed all five of his three-point attempts and went scoreless for the game.
The Badgers missed all 9 three-point attempts in the first half and finished just 4 of 24 (16.7%) for the game from distance.
The Badgers string of seven-straight wins in Champaign came to an end. They return to action on Thursday against the Nebraska Cornhuskers in Lincoln (4 p.m. CT – BTN).