Offense: D
Micah Potter made a pair of free throws to extend Wisconsin’s lead to 63-56 with 4:50 to go in the game. But Wisconsin couldn’t close the deal as the Badgers shot 2-for-9 the remainder of the game.
The two points by Potter from the free throw line were the first points by Wisconsin since the 7:11 mark, which was a made dunk by Kobe King. The Badgers would go on a four-minute and 11-second scoring drought before they made their next field goal, which was made by Nate Reuvers which gave Wisconsin a 65-63 lead.
Simply put it is hard to win basketball games when you only make three of your final 14 shot attempts over the final seven minutes and 11 seconds of a game.
Wisconsin’s two most consistent offensive players throughout the game were Kobe King and Micah Potter. King led the way with 21 points on 10-for-13 shooting from the field while Potter had 13 points as he got to the free throw line eight times making all eight of his free throws.
King and Potter were the only two players to reach double figures for Wisconsin as D’Mitrik Trice, Brad Davison, Nate Reuvers, and Brevin Pritzl all scored seven points.
While Potter was having success around the rim Reuvers struggled to get quality looks against Illinois frontcourt as Reuvers went 3-for-9 from the field. Reuvers was dealing with foul trouble as he finished the game with four fouls but give Illinois credit for making him uncomfortable and making sure he couldn’t lead Wisconsin in scoring for a third straight game.
Wisconsin finished the game with 22 points in the paint as the Badgers were active in trying to generate post touches. Even if Wisconsin didn’t make their field goal attempt in the paint they found a way of drawing a foul against Illinois. Wisconsin was able to force both Kofi Cockburn and Giorgi Bezhanishvili into foul trouble as both of them picked up four fouls apiece.
Wisconsin was able to get into the bonus in both halves as they finished the game 20-for-23 (86.9 percent) from the charity stripe.
Overall Wisconsin shot 23-for-53 (43.4 percent) from the field and 4-for-15 (26.7 percent) from three.