No. 5 Illinois (17-6, 13-4) vs. No. 23 Wisconsin (16-8, 10-7)
Kohl Center, Madison, Wisconsin; Saturday, 2 p.m. EST
BOTTOM LINE: No. 5 Illinois looks to give No. 23 Wisconsin its sixth straight loss to ranked opponents. Wisconsin’s last win vs a ranked opponent came against the then-No. 21 Minnesota Golden Gophers 71-59 on Dec. 31, 2020. Illinois took care of Nebraska by 16 at home on Thursday.
VETERAN PRESENCE: Senior leadership could play a big role in the outcome of this game. . For Illinois, Kofi Cockburn, Andre Curbelo and Adam Miller have combined to score 42 percent of the team’s points this season, including 59 percent of all Fighting Illini points over their last five.
SPARKING THE OFFENSE: D’Mitrik Trice has accounted for 45 percent of all Wisconsin field goals over the last three games. The senior guard has 12 field goals and 17 assists in those games.
ACCOUNTING FOR ASSISTS: The Badgers have recently used assists to create buckets more often than the Fighting Illini. Wisconsin has an assist on 41 of 65 field goals (63.1 percent) across its previous three outings while Illinois has assists on 54 of 91 field goals (59.3 percent) during its past three games.
DID YOU KNOW: The Wisconsin offense has recorded a turnover on only 13.7 percent of its possessions, which is the lowest rate in the country. The Illinois defense has forced opposing teams to turn the ball over on just 16.8 percent of all possessions (ranked 301st among Division I teams).
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