A losing streak which was unheard of in Wisconsin during the past decade has now ended. Six losses ago, the Badgers were 3-0 in Big Ten play. Thursday night they moved to 4-6, with a quality win over a very strong Illinois team. Marcus Landry and Jason Bohannon worked the inside-outside game, to the tune of 36 combined points, to lead the Badgers. Bohannon was money from outside, hitting six of his seven three-point attempts, while Landry worked the paint for most of his 16 points.
I really could have done without the "overrated" chant from the hometown student section in Madison during the last two minutes. First of all, Illinois is definitely not overrated. They are a solid young basketball team who recently took down Wisconsin in Champaign. Secondly, you just snapped a six-game losing streak, and you can't simply be happy about the victory without trying to rag on the opponent? C'mon kids, enjoy your team.
Anyway, the biggest piece of fallout from this game could be the second-half (of league play) resurgence from an obviously talented Wisconsin team. A losing streak can take on a life of its own, and that's what seemed to happen to Wisconsin. Now that the proverbial monkey is off their back, likely so too is the pressure. They face a tough assignment visiting Penn State Sunday, but after that the Badgers get Iowa and Ohio State at home before heading to Indiana. Realistically, they could go 3-1 during that stretch, if not winning all four. This is, of course, assuming they play as they did Thursday night. If they don't, well, they'll lose at least two of those games.
The bottom line, though, is that you can't count out the Badgers just yet -- even though I pretty much did earlier today.
As for Illinois, this is their fourth straight road loss since announcing their presence with authority against Purdue. They do get to play their next game at home, but that's against those same Boilermakers, who are a solid squad in their own right.
In fact, the schedule isn't pretty for Illinois from here on out. Their home games are against Purdue, Penn State, Minnesota, and Michigan State. It's possible to get all those games, considering they play so well in Assembly Hall, but they better start learning how to win on the road if they wish to maintain their standing as a surefire NCAA tourney team.
