Terrence Shannon Jr., Illinois top Wisconsin to win Big Ten title

 

[March 18, 2024]  Terrence Shannon Jr. scored 34 points in another high-octane effort and No. 13 Illinois recorded a 93-87 victory over Wisconsin to win the Big Ten tournament title Sunday in Minneapolis.

Marcus Domask added 26 points, eight assists and seven rebounds for the second-seeded Fighting Illini (26-8). Illinois claimed the Big Ten's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament by winning the conference tourney for the second time in four seasons and the fourth time overall.

AJ Storr had 24 points and three steals and Chucky Hepburn added 20 points and three steals for the fifth-seeded Badgers (22-13). Max Klesmit scored 16 points and Steven Crowl had 11 for Wisconsin, which made the NCAA field as an at-large selection.

Shannon came up big again for Illinois one day after setting a Big Ten tournament record with 40 points in a victory over Nebraska. He was named Most Outstanding Player of the tournament.

"I'm really happy for these guys," Illini coach Brad Underwood said. "I'm really happy they could experience this feeling. We don't take this tournament for granted. We came here to win."

Illinois drew a No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and will face 14th-seeded Morehead State in the first round.

Both Illinois and Wisconsin were hot from the floor in the second half. Illinois connected on 61.5 percent and the Badgers made 50 percent.

Badgers coach Greg Gard was happy about his team's run during the tournament, which included an upset of top-seeded Purdue in the semifinals.

Wisconsin earned a No. 5 seed for the NCAA Tournament and will face No. 12 seeded James Madison in the first round.

"You want to be playing your best basketball in March, and we are," Gard said. "Looking forward to these guys getting more opportunities to go show how good they are."

Klesmit buried a 3-pointer to give Wisconsin an 82-81 edge with 3:53 remaining. He later drained another trey to tie it at 85 with 1:57 left.

Shannon swished a 3-pointer 29 seconds later to put Illinois back ahead. Shannon then stole the ball from Storr, was fouled and hit both free throws to give the Illini a 90-85 lead with 1:02 to play.

Shannon split two free throws to make it a six-point margin with 50.2 seconds left and Illinois closed out the win.

Shannon (19) and Domask (17) combined for 36 of the Illini's 52 second-half points.

Mar 17, 2024; Minneapolis, MN, USA; Illinois Fighting Illini guard Terrence Shannon Jr. (0) goes to the basket over Wisconsin Badgers forward Tyler Wahl (5) in the second half at Target Center. Mandatory Credit: Matt Krohn-USA TODAY Sports

"That duo has done it all year," Underwood said of Shannon and Domask. "We told them at halftime that we're going to have to ride that duo the rest of the way."

Overall, the Illini shot 52.6 percent from the field, including 7 of 20 from 3-point range.

The Badgers connected on 46.9 percent of their attempts and were also 7 of 20 from behind the arc.

Wisconsin opened the second half with a 21-10 burst. Hepburn converted two three-point plays within 70 seconds as the Badgers held a 61-51 advantage with 14:38 remaining in the game.

"There were a lot of times where it would have been really easy to fold and pack it up and accept defeat," Domask said, "but every time out, we had the same message that we weren't going home, we weren't losing this game."

Illinois responded with a 21-5 burst. The Illini caught Wisconsin at 65 on a dunk by Dain Dainja and moved ahead on Shannon's layup with 10:25 remaining. Domask followed with a trey and later made two free throws to make it 72-66 with 8:38 left.

A 3-pointer by Klesmit and two free throws by Storr lifted the Badgers into a tie at 77 with 5:42 remaining.

But Wisconsin was outplayed down the stretch, much to the chagrin of Hepburn.

"Made some tough shots, got offensive rebounds, second-chance points," Hepburn said. "That's what we need to fix in March Madness in order to advance. We've got to do the little things to win games like that."

Shannon scored the final five points of the first half to give the Illini a 41-40 lead. He had 15 before the break.

Storr scored 16 in the half for Wisconsin.

--Field Level Media

[© 2024 Thomson Reuters. All rights reserved.]
 This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.  Thompson Reuters is solely responsible for this content.