Illinois Falls to Wisconsin
By Jeff Mayfield

[February 09, 2018]  The Illinois Fighting Illini were hitting on about one cylinder Thursday and that wasn’t nearly enough as they fell to Wisconsin, 78-69 last night.

Freshmen sensation Trent Frazier did all he could sharp-shooting his way to a career-high 32 points. But that wasn’t nearly enough as the Badgers punished the Illini inside the paint with Ethan Happ who scored 27 points. And when they got tired of feeding the post they pitched it out to the perimeter and made several 3s to keep the Illini at bay.

Leron Black was able to muster 13 points and 11 rebounds but other than that Illinois’ lack of a forceful presence in the paint did not hinder the Badgers much at all. In fact, the Illini just couldn’t cover all the Badger options and it led to Wisconsin shooting 53% for the game including over 50% shooting from the arc. They also amassed 20 assists on 25 made baskets.

The Illini only shot 38% for the game and had no answer for Ethan Happ. Illinois was outscored 32-16 in the paint.

With the loss the Illinois record dips under .500 to 12-13. The Illini will host Penn State Sunday at 6pm.

[By JEFF MAYFIELD]

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