Wisconsin Overpowers Illinois in Big Ten Men's Basketball Tournament

While it's been a down year for Wisconsin sports fans after enduring yet another losing season by their Milwaukee Bucks and the retirement of NFL icon Brett Favre, the sun began to shine a little more Sunday afternoon.

The Wisconsin Badgers won their first Big Ten Championship since 2004 with a 61-48 victory Sunday. Center Brian Butch nailed a couple of three-pointers and led the Badgers with 12 points while Forward Marcus Landry contributed with 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 4 assists. Guard Michael Flowers chipped in with 9 points and 3 steals, a day after making the clutch play which helped the Badgers advance to this point. The Badgers shot 50 % from three-point range and made all of their free throw attempts to extend their current winning streak to 10 games, the longest since winning the National Championship in 1941.

Illinois was never able to catch up after losing their lead with roughly 13 minutes left in the first half. Senior Center Shaun Pruitt led the game with 13 points and 8 rebounds and Guard Calvin Brock provided a spark off the bench with 10 points in 29 minutes, but was the only Illinois player other than Pruitt to reach double digits in points. Guard Chester Frazier had 7 points while Forward Brian Randle grabbed 5 boards and scored 4 points on only 2-7 shooting. Experiencing a poor night from beyond the arc, the Fighting Illini made only 3 out of 13 shots after shooting 40% in their victory the day before.

At one point early in the first half, an official's timeout was called after Wisconsin Guard Trevon Hughes was seen limping across the court. While most teams would use this opportunity to substitute for the injured player, Coach Bo Ryan looked away like nothing happened and that was all Hughes needed to see to know he was staying in the game. It was that type of determination and will power that propelled the Badgers to maintain their perfect record versus Illinois this year and receive their 10th consecutive bid into the NCAA Tournament.

Illinois' loss takes them out of the running for a NCAA Championship while the Badgers now look forward to facing the Cal State Fullerton Titans March 20th in Omaha, Nebraska. Wisconsin will look to rebound from last year when they were knocked out of the second round while the Titans are in the tourney for the first time since 1978.