MADISON, Wis. – Steven Crowl and Carter Gilmore have been around long enough that they are allowed to make games bigger than they needed to be. Considering neither fifth-year senior had beaten Illinois before, both players acknowledged that Tuesday might be their last opportunity.

The seniors played like it and recruited some help from some other veterans in the process.

Five Wisconsin seniors combined for 65 points and 19 rebounds, redeeming themselves from a frustrating December loss and ending six years of frustration against the Illini with a 95-74 victory at the Kohl Center.

John Tonje continues boosting his candidacy for Big Ten Player of the Year and postseason All-American honors with a game-high 31 points, making him the first Badgers player since Michael Finley to record consecutive 30-point games.

Crowl had a season-high 20 while guard John Blackwell added 16 to give the Badgers their seventh Quad-1 win, besting an Illinois team riddled with injuries and illness.

“I don’t think we were the same team we were back then, so I don’t think it matters if they were sick or healthy,” Crowl said. “We were going to handle business. We’re a different team now, and we showed that tonight.”

While Wisconsin (21-5, 11-4 Big Ten) maintained its strong offensive reputation, hitting 90 points in consecutive Big Ten games for the first time in 33 years, the Badgers locked in defensively to hold Illinois (17-10, 9-8) to 43.3 percent from the field and 1.088 points per possession.

“They are confident, playing great,” Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. “They got great role identification. They are so old. When you got one of the oldest teams in the country, you have no idea how valuable that is because your players get confidence … They’ve got great role identification. That’s pretty nice to see.”

Here are my takeaways from the Kohl Center.

Tuesday, December 10, could have been an embarrassing moment for Crowl instead of the turning point. Already stuck in a scoring funk after consecutive losses saw him score only two points, Crowl played close to 19 minutes and had zero rebounds in the first meeting against the Illini.

It’s been highly talked about and written about – the public criticism from head coach Greg Gard after the game and later that week in practice and the private conversations from his teammates holding him accountable.

“I had to look at myself in the mirror a little bit, come back, and become a little bit of a different player,” Crowl said. “I credit my teammates and coaches being on me a little bit because they know I can take it.”

It lit a fire, evidenced by his 10.3 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 61.6 shooting percentage in the 14 games since, but none were against Illinois.

Finally having a matchup where he wasn’t blasted by constant double teams, not to mention knowing that 7-1 center Tomislav Ivisic was under the weather, Crowl was aggressive and physical with his touches in the post.

The result was a season-high 20 points, going 3-for-3 from three-point range and 7-for-10 overall. He added seven rebounds (to give him 803 for his career), five assists, two steals, one turnover, and no fouls as he took advantage of the undersized and inexperienced frontcourt.

There were multiple instances where Crowl would have earned the hockey assist, as his ball movement out of the post led to the extra pass that led to an open shot and a basket. The offense hummed with Crowl on the court, as the Badgers averaged 1.357 points per possession.

“An aggressive Steve makes us better,” Gard said. “For him, playing real physical in the paint helps when you bang in all your threes. That gets him going and gets his confidence up even more. I thought he was really a physical presence. He commanded the ball in the paint.”

Illinois entered the night ranked first in the NCAA in defensive rebounds per game (30.8), second in total rebounds per game (44.3) and rebound margin (10.7), and 23rd in offensive rebounds per game (13.5). In December, the Illini took advantage of UW’s underwhelming physicality to turn 15 offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points.

UW emphasized the need to be aggressive on the glass even before the news of Morez Johnson Jr. (broken wrist) being out indefinitely and Ivisic losing seven pounds and needing multiple IV treatments. Those two players had 15 of Illinois’ 40 rebounds against UW and five of the offensive rebounds. It got easier for UW when 6-6 forward Jake Davis started the game but didn’t return in the second half due to a stomach bug.

The Badgers didn’t care. UW relentlessly attacked the rim and paint and was rewarded for it. UW won the rebound battle, 39-30, held Illinois to nine offensive rebounds off its 34 misses (the first time the Illini had single-digit offensive rebounds since Jan.23), and outscored the undermanned crew, 48-28, in points in the paint. The 48 points matched the season high that UW set against Appalachian State back in November.

“What happened last game fueled us a little bit,” Crowl said. “We knew it was going to be a war on the glass. Obviously, them not having the two big fellas helped us a little bit. I think as a team we did great, and it was a team effort.”

Illinois started its seventh different lineup in the last 11 games, a roster shuffling due to the Illini dealing with injuries and a team-wide illness. That played to their advantage early. Wisconsin was winning the rebounding battle by 10 at halftime and was averaging 1.343 points per possession, but the Badgers only led 47-41 because of eight turnovers leading to 11 Illinois turnovers.

UW also adjusted on the fly when Ivisic did not start and had to limit Crowl and Nolan Winter from playing together on the floor so they could go smaller.

“It changed a little bit how they were playing and what we prepared for,” Gard said.

The adjustments made helped Wisconsin steadily pull away in the second half. Illinois never had more than two consecutive field goals in the second half and was 4-for-15 from three-point range. UW limited the turnovers (two) and shut down two thorns in its side from the previous meeting in guards Kyle Boswell, Kasparas Jakucionis, and Tre White. That trio combined for 66 of Illinois’ 86 points.

Boswell was 3-for-9 in 26 foul-filled minutes, Jakucionis had more turnovers (seven) than points (six) and White was 1-for-4 from the field.

“I think we’ve gotten better, we’re getting better, and we are better than we were in December (defensively),” Gard said. “Ball pressure has gotten better. We are better at maneuvering and handling screens for the most part. Our bigs are better at when to blitz screens or shock screens and when we need to switch.

“We have great connectivity offensively. You need to have that defensively, too. This group has continued to grow in a positive way at that end.”

One reason for the group’s defensive ascension is Tonje. While proving to be a prolific scorer since arriving, Tonje struggled to grasp some of Wisconsin’s defensive concepts that differentiated from his previous stops, especially with ball-screen defense.

Improving his one-on-one defense and keeping ball handlers in front of him, Tonje had a career-high four steals against Illinois which led to positive results. He picked off a couple of passes from Jakucionis, one leading to him drawing a foul and getting to the foul line and another leading to a Max Klesmit turnaround jump shot. While he didn’t convert his layup off the third steal, Tonje’s floating jump shot with 5:39 remaining was his final bucket to give him his fourth 30-point outing this season.

“His growth has been a big part of us growing defensively,” Gard said. “His commitment to the concepts have helped our team.”

1.8 – After committing eight first-half turnovers, the Badgers only gave up the ball twice in the second half. Over the last six games, UW is averaging 6.2 TOs in the first half and 1.8 in the second half.

4 – Only four Badgers have scored at least 30 points in consecutive games: John Tonje, Michael Finley, Rick Olson, and Clarence Sherrod.

10 – UW shot 10-for-24 from 3-point range, the 16th time the Badgers have hit double-digit triples (13-3 in such games), the most in the Big Ten.

12 – Wisconsin posted 12 steals in the win, its second-highest total of the season. Seven different players had a steal.

90 – UW reached 90 points in back-to-back games for the first time since doing so in three straight games from Dec. 14-28, 1995.

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