Illinois vs. Wisconsin

Fighting Illini vs. Badgers

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Long snake-bitten by the Ohio State Buckeyes, the Illinois Fighting Illini finally excised some demons when they defeated Ohio State Tuesday 67-49. Now they will get to end a great week by ending a streak to another fellow Big Ten tormentor when Wisconsin comes calling into Assembly Hall.

Illinois (16-3, 4-2) ended their five-game losing streak to the Buckeyes in the Tuesday night rout. Next up on the hit list is the Badgers who have won five straight in the series. The Illini have not defended their home court against the Badgers since a 54-43 victory on March 13, 2005.

Perhaps Illinois was inspired by being placed in the Top 25, at number 24, for the first time since 2005-06. They were able to hold Ohio State to 41.3 percent shooting and forced 20 turnovers. Illinois is allowing the fewest points in the Big Ten with 56.6.

Illinois is undefeated at home in conference play this season and has only one loss in Champaign all season long. The Fighting Illini have defeated Indiana, Michigan and Ohio State at home by an average of 21.4 points.

With the way Illinois has been playing and the way Wisconsin (12-6, 3-3) has been playing, the Illini’s dominance at home should continue.

The Badgers have lost three straight and are 1-5 against ranked teams this season. The season is not turning out the way many expected for Wisconsin, who was picked for third in the conference behind Michigan State and Purdue. Two overtime losses have hampered the Badgers, Wednesday 73-69 to Iowa and on January 15th, 78-74, to Minnesota. Against the Gophers, Wisconsin blew a 14-point lead.

The Badgers are in unchartered territory if they lose this game. They have not lost four games in a row within the Big Ten since 1997-98, when they dropped their final 11 that season. Wisconsins current troubles can be traced to the fact that they are giving up nearly 11 more points per game this season than last.

This will be the first meeting of the year for the rivals and they will meet again in about two weeks, February 5, in Madison.

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