Matthew Mayer scored 18 of his career-high 26 points in the second half as surging Illinois pulled away for a 61-51 victory over host Wisconsin on Saturday in Madison, Wis.
Illinois (15-6, 6-4 Big Ten) gained control with a 19-2 run, pushing its lead to 56-39 with just over four minutes remaining in the second half. The Fighting Illini went on to record their sixth victory in seven games.
Wisconsin (12-8, 4-6) has lost six of seven games since reaching No. 14 in the poll.
Mayer, a grad transfer from Baylor, made 9 of 19 shots from the floor and 5 of 11 from 3-point range.
Jayden Epps added 13 points for Illinois, which has won six straight versus Wisconsin — including a 79-69 victory in the first meeting on Jan. 7 that started the Badgers’ slide.
Wisconsin’s Chucky Hepburn had 15 points and Max Klesmit, who missed the previous two games with an injury, added 12 points and eight rebounds.
The Illini snapped a 37-37 tie by making four of five shots to fuel a 10-point run. After a layup by Steven Crowl, Mayer hit a 3-pointer to trigger another nine-point spurt.
Wisconsin erased a 12-point deficit with a 15-2 run, hitting four 3-pointers. Hepburn scored on a drive to put the Badgers up 35-34 with 11:32 remaining.
Illinois opened the second half with a 12-4 run, going in front 32-20 on a three-point play by Mayer.
Illinois led 20-16 after a first half reminiscent of the peach basket era.
Wisconsin made just 6 of 33 shots in the opening half, including 3 of 14 beyond the arc. Illinois was 9 of 27, including 2 of 10 from deep.
Neither team reached double digits until Klesmit’s 3-pointer put the Badgers up 10-7 more than 11 minutes into the game.
Wisconsin went almost six minutes between its first and second field goal, hitting just 2 of its first 15 shots before Carter Gilmore banked in a 3-pointer from the top to put the Badgers up 8-7 with just over 10 minutes remaining in the half.
Illinois connected on three of its first 14 shots before a dunk by Dain Dainja cut the lead to 10-9.
–Field Level Media
