Illinois discovered Saturday night there`s no reason to be defensive about an eight-man squad. Its three-man bench can provide plenty of offense.
With reserves Tony Wysinger and Ken Norman scoring more than a third of the points, the Illini cruised past Wisconsin 68-49 in an Assembly Hall victory that produced some excellent numbers all the way around for the winners.
Wysinger came into the game in the first half to help Illinois put together 10 unanswered points that led to a 31-19 lead at intermission. Then, just when Wisconsin was threatening to make a game of it in the second half, Norman got untracked with 15 of his team-high 17 points.
But there were even bigger numbers for the Illini (20-7, 8-5). In addition to capturing a second straight Big 10 contest, they also nailed down a third consecutive 20-victory season, a plateau they`ve now reached five times in the last six years under coach Lou Henson.
”I`ve always thought of it like a pitcher winning 20 in baseball,” said Henson. ”Like (Oklahoma City coach) Abe Lemons says, if it doesn`t mean that much, why aren`t more people doing it?”
The Illini also extended their record Assembly Hall victory streak to 21, but whether they`ve finally come of age in the conference race this season remains to be seen. The latest two victories at home were against cellar-dwelling Northwestern and Wisconsin, and Henson`s team now must hit the road for games at Indiana and Ohio State.
”We needed these last two for our confidence more than anything else,”
said Henson, whose team had lost three straight in the Big 10.
Illinois remained tied for third with Purdue. However they pulled to within a half-game behind second-place Iowa.
”If we can just keep this intensity going on the road, we`ll be fine,”
said Wysinger.
The Illini had to shoot 62 percent to squeeze out a 78-67 victory at Wisconsin earlier this season. After missing their opening seven shots this time, they finally went on to a respectable (for them) 49 percent effort with a strong defense that did a much better job keeping the Badgers` Scott Roth and Rick Olson under control.
Roth hit 19 points to capture game honors, but the 6-foot-9-inch forward had scored 31 against Illinois in Madison. Olson, who had Illini guard Bruce Dougas in his face much of the night, got only eight points, half his Big 10 average.
The Illini never trailed after going ahead 13-11 on Doug Altenberger`s 18-foot jumper. But it wasn`t until they expanded a 17-15 lead to 27-17 that they had firm control, with the help of Wysinger speeding up play.
The Badgers never got closer than eight points in the second half, when Norman added to their misery by racing down the court to bag some easy transition baskets.
”In all my 30 years of coaching, he may get down the floor faster than any player I`ve had,” said Henson.
The scariest moment in the second half for Illinois came when Wysinger collided with Olson near the Wisconsin basket on a Badger fast break with 4:12 remaining. He had to be helped off the floor by the trainer and didn`t return. His injury was diagnoed as a groin pull, but it wasn`t expected to keep him from Thursday`s date at Indiana.
