Opportunity comes and goes as Badgers lose to Illinois 63-56

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The Wisconsin men’s basketball team blew a chance to tie for the Big Ten lead, after losing to Illinois 63-to-56 last night in Madison.

The Illini moved into a tie for first with Michigan State, which fell to Purdue 76-64 for the Spartans’ third straight loss. The Badgers ended an 18-game winning streak at the Kohl Center, where they’re now 13-and-1 this season.

Wisconsin was up by two at the break. But they only shot 26-percent in the second half, and they scored only eight points in the final 13 minutes while missing 17-of-their-last-20 shots from the floor.

Illinois shot 53-percent for the night – and they weathered a two-and-a-half minute scoring drought late in the game when the Badgers missed all three of their attempts. Wisconsin was also out-rebounded 35-27.

Junior guard Demetri McCarney scored 27 points for Illinois, which improved to 9-and-3 in the Big Ten and 17-and-8 overall. Jason Bohannon had 15 points and six rebounds for the Badgers, who lost to an unranked Big Ten opponent at home for the first time in 52 games in coach Bo Ryan’s tenure. Wisconsin fell to 8-4 in the conference and 18-6 overall. They’ll host Indiana on Saturday.

Tags: wi sports, proam, basketball, badgers