Amid the celebration in the Wisconsin locker room Saturday, Alando Tucker sat on a chair and stared.
“I was speechless,” said the fifth-year senior forward from Lockport, widely considered the Big Ten’s best player. “Everybody was cheering. I just sat there in my chair and looked.
“Guys thought I was sad, but I was in awe. I thought, wow, we are really taking this Wisconsin program to another level. It was a great thing for me to come home and finally win here.”
This 71-64 triumph second-ranked Wisconsin scored over Illinois to end its seven-game, eight-year Assembly Hall losing streak was neither decisive nor dramatic.
The Badgers (19-1, 5-0 Big Ten) won their 15th straight game because they kept their poise when a sea of orange-clad fanatics seemed on the verge of inspiring underdog Illinois (14-7, 2-4) to turn the tide.
Wisconsin surmounted the 62-59 deficit it faced with 4 minutes 4 seconds to play by executing coach Bo Ryan’s swing offense methodically, making opportunistic plays on offense and stops on defense and sinking all six of its free throws.
“They didn’t get rattled,” Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. “Our kids were celebrating [after rallying to take the lead]. I want them to celebrate and feel good, but you celebrate in the huddle and celebrate at the end. I’m not saying that won or lost the game, but it’s immature [and] it’s not staying focused.
“[Wisconsin has] a chance to go a long way [in the NCAA tournament]. They have a great team. They know their system. They execute it. They have people who can hurt you in different ways.”
For both teams, the game was a struggle.
For Illinois, getting back in contention entailed overcoming nine-point deficits twice in the first half. The lead changed 11 times and the score was tied seven times before backup center Greg Stiemsma’s pair of free throws put Wisconsin on top to stay with 2:06 to play.
Down the stretch, the Illini made only one of their last seven shots and two of their four free throws.
“The shots wouldn’t go down,” said guard Rich McBride, who earlier was their primary outside threat with four three-pointers.
“They did a good job of scouting our plays. They took things away. We didn’t make plays when it counted.”
Until then, the play of Shaun Pruitt was the main reason Illinois was able to expose Wisconsin’s vulnerability.
The 6-foot-10-inch junior equaled his career high with 19 points and grabbed a career-high 14 rebounds.
“Pruitt is pretty good,” Ryan said. “He made some tough, tough post moves.”
Little things meant a lot. Wisconsin was 18 of 21 from the foul line, while Illinois was 14 of 23. The Badgers had only seven turnovers, two less than the Illini, and grabbed 38 rebounds, four more than the Illini.
Stiemsma played a strong supporting role behind guard Kammron Taylor (game-high 20 points) and Tucker (17 points, eight rebounds).
When Tucker got the ball in scoring position, the Illini played help defense and Stiemsma came off backscreens to take outside shots. The 6-11 junior with a 1.6 scoring average hit 5 of 6 shots and two free throws for 12 points.
“Greg hits those in practice,” Ryan said. “They were right in the rhythm of the offense. Greg also did a great job of protecting the rim [on defense] any time someone decided they were going to come in there.”
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nmilbert@tribune.com
