That’s how you are supposed to win on the road in the Big Ten.
You’ll have your droughts, but have to fight through them, and that’s what the Badgers did Tuesday night in Champaign. Wisconsin ended a two game losing streak by defeating Illinois 75-63.
Much of the early success can be attributed to freshman Nigel Hayes. It’s definitely gotten to the point where he’s no longer playing like a freshman. He finished with 14 points on 5-7 shooting and again, like in the Ohio State game looked unstoppable at times. He’s knocking on the door to the starting line-up, but that’s a conversation for a different day.
On a night where Frank Kaminsky only attempted one shot and it took Josh Gasser nearly 30 minutes to get on the scoreboard (although he finished with eight) Sam Dekker needed to have a big night, and he did. He finished the first half strong and came out right away in the second half knocking down a big three. Add in two more late and he finished with 16 while tying his career high with four three pointers. He looked like the Dekker of earlier this year, so hopefully this is what it took to get out of the rut.
Ben Brust and Traevon Jackson both had nice games as well as they pitched in 16 and 14 points respectively. Jackson only turned the ball over once and showed again that when he isn’t trying to overdo it, he’s a very strong point guard in a functioning offense. It’s when he tries to do too much is when his flaws really show.
Overall, it was a nice win and one that they really needed. There is a huge logjam in the middle of the Big Ten right now and the Badgers are right in the thick of another fourth place finish. It looks like Michigan and Michigan State are both starting to move away from the pack, but Iowa is now only a game up on Wisconsin, Ohio State and Northwestern. They are also only one loss up on Minnesota, Indiana and Nebraska in this very crazy conference.
Next up is a huge game on Sunday against Michigan State. Earlier in the year this was looking as a potential conference regular season championship game, now it’s needed for seeding in both the Big Ten Tournament and March Madness.
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