In a season full of frustrating nights, Wednesday’s might have been the worst of all for Illinois.
Senior forward Brian Randle suffered a sprained shoulder that may end his college career, and freshman guard Demetri McCamey was benched at the start of the game against Wisconsin because of his “attitude.”
It all added up to a 71-57 loss to the No. 11 Badgers (22-4, 12-2), who are tied with Indiana for first place in the Big Ten.
McCamey scored all 18 of his points in the second half, but the Illini (11-16, 3-11) still could come no closer than nine points in the second half.
“Coach and I had a talk and I knew I wasn’t going to start,” said McCamey, who had started the last three. “I have to take care of business.”
Which means?
“Demetri has to learn to listen; he has to be coachable,” Illini coach Bruce Weber said. “He’s an unbelievably talented kid, but his attitude has to be right. If he does that, he has a chance to be very, very special. He showed that in the second half. At the same time, if he doesn’t do it with the right attitude, he’s going to have trouble making progress.”
The Illini jumped out to an 8-4 lead, but then events turned against them. With 12:58 left in the first half, Randle collided with Greg Stiemsma and suffered a sprained right shoulder.
“My heart goes out to Brian Randle,” Weber said. “He could be questionable for the rest of the season. He’s a great kid who truly cares, and this will be his fourth or fifth major injury.
“It hurt when he went out, no doubt. He’s one of our best defenders and one of our leaders.”
The Illini struggled on offense most of the night. Senior center Shaun Pruitt scored 16 points, but only two in the second half.
In the final 20 minutes, the only Illini to score from the field were McCamey with seven field goals and senior guard Trent Meacham with two.
“Their defense was tough,” Meacham said. “We had 20 turnovers and six assists. That’s not going to get it done against anyone, especially Wisconsin. They don’t make mistakes, and they make you make mistakes, and that’s what they did.”
The Badgers have climbed to the top of the Big Ten with scoring balance, and they showed that again Wednesday. Guard Trevon Hughes led the way with 18 points, forward Marcus Landry added 17 and Jason Bohannon had 15.
Meacham was also in double figures for Illinois with 10 points. Chester Frazier had six points and a game-high 13 rebounds.
Wisconsin led 34-25 at halftime and built the lead to 56-40 before the Illini made a move. A McCamey layup cut the Badgers’ lead to 61-52 with 4:55 left, but a Landry three-pointer killed the rally.
“Illinois is a good team with good players, and they had some good looks that didn’t go down,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “We had guys who made some good plays. We tried to put them away, but they wouldn’t let us.”
———-
tabannon@tribune.com
