CHAMPAIGN, Ill. : Nick Boyd scored 19 of his 25 points after halftime and John Blackwell added 24 as Wisconsin rallied for a 92-90 overtime victory over eighth-ranked Illinois in Big Ten play on Tuesday night.
Austin Rapp contributed 18 points off the bench for the Badgers (17-7, 9-4 Big Ten), who won for the eighth time in their last 10 games. Wisconsin committed just four turnovers and erased a 12-point second-half deficit to secure their second major road win of the season, having also beaten then-No. 2 Michigan 91-88 on Jan. 10.
Keaton Wagler poured in 34 points for Illinois (20-5, 11-3), while Tomislav Ivisic had 19 points and 11 rebounds. The Fighting Illini dropped their second straight game following a 12-game winning streak and played without Andrej Stojakovic, who was sidelined with an ankle injury.
In overtime, Boyd converted a three-point play to open the scoring before Blackwell drilled a 3-pointer to give Wisconsin an 87-81 lead with 3:24 remaining. Boyd added a driving basket to stretch the margin to eight.
Illinois responded with an interior score from Ivisic and a 3-pointer from Wagler to cut the deficit to 89-86 with 1:30 left. David Mirkovic made one of two free throws with 44 seconds remaining to bring the Illini within two.
Braeden Carrington hit two free throws with 14.2 seconds left to push the Badgers’ lead to four, but Ben Humrichous answered with a 3-pointer to trim it to one with 6.3 seconds remaining. Blackwell split a pair from the line with 5.7 seconds left, and Wagler’s running 3-point attempt at the buzzer rimmed out.
Wisconsin shot 43.4% from the field and made 16 of 36 attempts from beyond the arc, while Illinois shot 53.3% overall and went 15 of 33 from 3-point range. The Badgers beat the Illini for the second straight time after previously losing nine in a row in the series.
Rapp gave Wisconsin an 81-80 lead with a 3-pointer with 56.3 seconds left in regulation. Wagler split a pair of free throws with 35.3 seconds remaining to leave the game tied and force overtime.
Ivisic scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half as Illinois took a 44-38 lead into the break. Blackwell led Wisconsin with 10 first-half points.
