No. 1 Illinois ends Badgers' home win streak

MADISON, Wis. -- One dazzling streak ended and another endured.

Top-ranked Illinois beat No. 18 Wisconsin 75-65 on Tuesday night, extending the nation's longest winning streak to 20 games and ending the nation's longest homecourt winning streak at 38.

Led by Luther Head's 18 points and reserve Jack Ingram's clutch play down the stretch, Illinois became the first team to beat the Badgers at the Kohl Center since Wake Forest on Dec. 4, 2002.

They did it by scoring 14 of the game's final 15 points after overcoming an eight-point deficit midway through the second half.

Illinois coach Bruce Weber, who had peddled his team as the underdog despite eight straight weeks atop the poll, said the biggest thing about the Illini's first win in Madison since 1998 was what it meant in the Big Ten race, where the Illini are 6-0.

"I told the kids if we win this one, we're going to be one up on everyone because I don't know if anyone's capable of coming in here and winning besides us after the Michigan State loss, so it gives us one up for the Big Ten championship," Weber said.

And that's what bothered the Badgers, who fell to 53-3 at home under Bo Ryan, who lost a Big Ten home game for the first time in his four seasons as coach.

"The guys weren't worried about losing any streak. It was a Big Ten conference game. That's all we were playing for," said Ryan, whose teams are 26-1 at home in the league since he took over in 2001.

The Badgers (13-4, 4-2) led 56-48 with 10 1/2 minutes left and were still up by three with 4 1/2 minutes remaining and the arena at its earsplitting best.

Sore-footed Alando Tucker, who led Wisconsin with 16 points, drove to the basket to give the Badgers a 64-61 lead with 4:31 left, but dreams of Wisconsin's first win over a top-ranked opponent since beating Ohio State in 1962 soon faded.

James Augustine, who was limited by foul trouble to 4 minutes in the first half, made two free throws with 4:11 left and Jack Ingram did the same at 3:39, putting the Illini ahead for good, 65-64.

Augustine, who scored 12 of his 14 points in the second half, added consecutive dunks to make it 69-64, the first one coming off a steal by Ingram.

The Badgers' most recent home win came when they scored the final 11 points of the game to beat Michigan State 62-59 but there was no such miracle in store for them this time.

The only break in Illinois' run came when Kammron Taylor made one free throw with 1:07 left to make it 71-65.

"We picked it up defensively," Weber said. "I'm not sure if they got a little stagnant or tight as it got down the stretch or if we just defended well."

Deron Williams added 13 points and Roger Powell Jr. had 11 for Illinois, which led 35-33 at halftime despite going scoreless over the final 4:26 before the break.

"We've had a lot of good wins, Wake Forest, Gonzaga," Williams said. "But with this streak that they had here and the history of the building, this is tops right now."

Sharif Chambliss added 14 points for Wisconsin and Mike Wilkinson scored 13.

The Badgers were just 5-of-12 from the free throw line and Illinois was 17-of-20.

Wisconsin's average margin of victory during their winning streak was 20.4 points and it appeared for a moment that this one might be another Badgers' blowout when Tucker's 3-pointer gave Wisconsin a 56-48 lead with 12:40 remaining.

After an Illinois timeout, the Badgers had a chance to go up by double digits -- the most the Illini had trailed this season was by nine at Purdue on Jan. 8 -- but Andreas Helmigk traveled and the Badgers unraveled.

Rich McBride's 3-pointer was followed by two free throws from Williams and two more from Head. After Taylor's basket gave the Badgers a 58-55 lead, Ingram hit consecutive 3s to cap Illinois' 13-2 run and give the Illini a 61-58 lead.

"This is a great moment," Weber said. "They're enjoying it in the locker room. This is the most excited they have been all year, even more than they were at (then-No. 1) Wake Forest. They are truly proud of themselves. They really wanted to come in here and break the streak."

Wilkinson, who played in all 38 straight homecourt victories, said the Badgers won't sulk about the end of the streak.

"It's over," he said. "We've got to move on."