CHAMPAIGN, Ill. – Eighty points should be enough to win a Big Ten game in the eyes of University of Wisconsin senior Max Klesmit.

The Badgers have shown they are hard to beat when they play clean basketball. The problem is Wisconsin is beating itself on offense, making winning much harder to come by than in November.

No.20 Wisconsin remains winless in December and the Big Ten, as Illinois extended its dominance over them to nine games with an 86-80 victory.

“If you are able to put 70-plus up in a Big Ten game, that should be far enough,” Klesmit said. “It’s early on still but we got a lot to learn in a little time to do it.”

Turnovers and rebounding have zapped all of Wisconsin’s momentum it built over the first eight games, causing the program’s first three-game losing streak in December since 1990. That team lost a fourth straight when it dropped a double-overtime game at Butler.

UW’s next opponent? The Bulldogs on a neutral court in Indianapolis on Saturday afternoon

“We’ve got a lot of veterans in (the locker room) and a lot of people who have been through this before,” said sophomore Nolan Winter (team-high 15 points). “There’s a lot of leadership in the locker room. I wouldn’t say we were ever down. We’re looking forward to the next game, heads held high, talking through what we need to do better, who needs to be better, and in what areas.

“There’s a lot of leadership and accountability that took place. I think that’s good … We’re working through it.”

Here are my takeaways from the State Farm Center.

One of the key points the Wisconsin staff discussed in the scouting report was that Illinois was a heavy-volume three-point shooting team. The Illini ranked 353rd nationally in team percentage points from two (40.6 percent) but were inconsistent in tracking down misses. That wasn’t the case on Tuesday.

The nation’s 51st offensive rebounding team took advantage of the nation’s 154th defensive rebounding team to the tune of 15 offensive rebounds, leading to 16 second-chance points. It’s been a growing problem for the Badgers, which gave up 13 offensive rebounds to Michigan and 11 on Saturday at Marquette.

“Just not physical enough,” Winter said. “All across the board, from bigs to guards, we’ve got to be way more physical, more attentive, checking a body, and then going to get the ball. Actually, not just kind of checking a body and watching someone else go get it. We’ve got to be a lot better at that moving on.”

Illinois had nine offensive rebounds in the first half but was held to nine points, as Wisconsin was sound defensively in running the Illini off the three-point line and free-throw line.

The Illini’s six offensive rebounds in the second half stung because of the poor timing. UW gave up one in consecutive possessions that pushed a three-point deficit to seven. Illinois had two on two possessions, including one that ended with a tip-in by Tre White with 2:19 to go.

UW had just cut the lead to four off a Winter three-pointer, but that tip-in sparked a 5-0 run that the Badgers couldn’t recover from.

Winter led Wisconsin with seven offensive rebounds and showed flashes of being the mismatch forward they recruited him to be. Winter had eight points on Wisconsin’s first seven possessions of the second half. When he badly missed a three-point attempt, Winter chased down his rebound and finished through contact at the rim.

“He showed flashes of how good of a player he can be,” head coach Greg Gard said.

The three-point play gave the Badgers a 47-46 lead, but the Badgers went over three minutes before making another field goal. UW never got the lead back in part to five of its 12 turnovers coming after taking the lead. Illinois scored 14 points off UW’s mistakes, and in the third straight game, an opponent scored double-digit points off UW’s miscues.

“Turnovers are killing us, just giving them free possessions,” Winter said. “It’s kind of the biggest thing I’ve seen in the past three games. It’s killing us.”

Gard looked at Steven Crowl’s stats line and wondered aloud how a 7-foot center could play nearly 19 minutes and not finish with a defensive rebound. On a night where the inability to finish possessions with a defensive rebound was the difference, Crowl was the only one of the nine players who didn’t secure at least one rebound.

The senior was more aggressive than in past games, backing down Illinois center Tomislav Ivisic several times in the low post. Still, Crowl’s problems finishing around the rim continue to plague him. He was 2-for-5 on two-point shots.

“We know what Steve is capable of and we all believe in him,” Winter said. “We just need to see it out of him more often than not. We know what he can do and when he gets going it’s scary for the league. We’re all pushing him to be better. I know Steve and he’s going to play with more aggression. I know he will, and he’s going to be back to his old self.”

Gard thought the ball stuck too much with John Blackwell running the point and John Tonje probing in the first half, not moving the ball within the offense and over-dribbling. Blackwell played only 22 minutes and sat long portions due to foul trouble before ultimately fouling out in the final minute.

“We have to get more out of Blackwell,” Gard said. “We can’t have him sitting on the bench with two fouls.”

Tonje hasn’t been the same since he returned from West Virginia. Tonje is 18-for-50 (36.0 percent) over his last four games, including 8-for-26 in the last two. He also attempted only two free throws, his lowest in seven games.

“Some of that is because we weren’t moving the ball well enough to get him isolated and get some ability to attack,” Gard said of Tonje. “The other part is playing off two feet, things we’ve continually talked about.”

Blackwell didn’t play the final 8:24 because of fouls, Klesmit joined him for the final 7:35, and Crowl finally started making shots before he had to sit the final 2:22. Throw in the fact that Tonje was 2-for-7 with two turnovers, and the Badgers trailing, 39-35, at halftime was largely due to play of their reserves.

Carter Gilmore and Xavier Amos took turns guarding and frustrating Tomislav Ivisic, who didn’t make a shot for the final 15:13 of the half. UW’s duo did more than guard. Gilmore hit his first three shots and was active in the low post.

“I think he’s giving us everything he’s got,” Gard said of Gilmore. “He’s really embraced and flourished in the role he has.”

Amos had five points and a chase-down block on Kasparas Jakucionis in transition. Amos logged 10 minutes in the first half after playing six in each of the last two games but was limited in the second half after Gard thought he tweaked his ankle.

“Xavier is continuing to learn as we go through this difficult stretch,” Gard said.

Jack Janicki hit Crowl for a layup at the left block on a roller and blocked forward Morez Johnson Jr. at the rim with his offhand. Seeing Janicki finish with three points, two rebounds, three assists to no turnovers, Gard said he’s got to get him more minutes.

The bench contributed 15 of its 19 points in the first half while Gard’s starters watched due to fouls.

“I have options. That’s the nice part about having a bench. I can lean into the bench a little bit more, which I did tonight, and I may have to do even more going forward.”

4.3 – Crowl’s scoring average over the last three games, as the senior is 5-for-18 from the floor.

7 – Missed free throws by Wisconsin, the most in a single game this season. The Badgers’ 66.7 percent shooting from the line was also a season-worst.

9 – Wisconsin hasn’t beat Illinois since February 18, 2019. The Badgers’ average margin of defeat in those nine losses is 8.2 points.

14:42 – The Badgers were in the bonus after just 10 possessions in the second half. Wisconsin missed the front end of the bonus on the seventh and ninth team fouls.

6-to-1 – Assist-to-turnover ratio from Wisconsin’s four reserves.

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