Ryan YoungStaff writerWed, February 11, 2026 at 3:36 AM UTC·3 min readBrad Underwood couldn't get his team to rally after last week's overtime loss in East Lansing.
No. 8 Illinois, despite leading by double digits in the second half, fell apart down the stretch on Tuesday night at the State Farm Center. Wisconsin fought out of a 12-point hole and grabbed a 92-90 win, which marked the Badgers' second road win over a top 10 opponent already this season. It was also the program's first win in Champaign in seven years.
Wisconsin, which forced the extra period after a huge late 3-pointer from Austin Rapp near the end of regulation, then opened overtime on an 11-3 run to suddenly break open an eight-point lead — which matched the Badgers' largest of the game.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIllinois finally responded after their dry spell, however, after Zvonimir Ivisic made a layup inside and then Keaton Wagler drilled a 3-pointer not even a minute later to make it a one-possession game yet again near the 90-second mark.
Though it looked like Illinois was going to get one last shot at a game-winner, Nolan Winter was somehow able to track down a miss from John Blackwell and call a timeout before falling out of bounds. That gave Wisconsin the ball back with just 14.8 seconds left in overtime and a two-point lead in hand, which was enough to ride out the two-point win.
Wagler led Illinois with 34 points and seven assists, and Ivisic added 19 points and 11 rebounds. Illinois had 13 turnovers as a group, too, compared to just four from the Badgers.
AdvertisementAdvertisementAdvertisementIllinois has now lost back-to-back games for the first time all season. No. 10 Michigan State survived a scare at home on Saturday night to beat the Illini. They now sit at 20-5 on the season, and are firmly in second in the Big Ten race behind Michigan. They'll likely need some help, and a win over the Wolverines later this month at home, in order to claim the regular season conference title.
Nick Boyd led Wisconsin with 25 points after shooting 10-of-19 from the field. Blackwell added 24 points on five 3-pointers, and Rapp finished with 18 points off the bench. Wisconsin improved to 17-7 on the year with the win on Tuesday night, which significantly boosted its NCAA tournament status as the regular season starts to wrap up.
There are some bad losses on the Badgers' resume this season, including double-digit losses to both TCU and Villanova, and a one-point loss at Indiana last week that they'd like to have back. But Wisconsin has now won eight of their last 10 games, which includes road victories over both Illinois and Michigan. They've got Michigan State up next on Friday, too, and Purdue waiting again in their final game of the regular season.
Though they may not be there quite yet, the Badgers are starting to look like a dangerous threat not only in the Big Ten tournament in a few weeks, but in the NCAA tournament, too.
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