CHAMPAIGN, Ill. (AP) -- Wisconsin overcame a ragged start and used 39 combined points from a pair of players who come from Illinois to beat the Illini on the road Sunday, 74-68.
Ben Brust scored a game-high 20 for the Badgers (15-7, 6-3 Big Ten) and Frank Kaminsky had 19. Both are from the Chicago area, and Kaminsky was playing his first serious minutes since suffering an eye injury against Indiana Jan. 15.
Their big night made up for a quiet one from Jared Berggren, who was the Badgers' leading scorer coming in. But Berggren drew two first-half fouls and picked up his third early in the second half, limiting his time on the court. He finished with six points in 17 minutes.
Neither team was effective offensively over the first 20 minutes.
Wisconsin shot under 30 percent for most of the first half and combined with the Illini to score 14 points in the game's first eight minutes.
Wisconsin eventually started making shots and Illinois (15-8, 2-7) didn't until it was too late.
Illinois was led by Joseph Bertrand's 17 points. Four other Illini scored in double figures: Nnanna Egwu with 14, Brandon Paul -- who came off the bench for the first time this season -- with 13 and D.J. Richardson and Tracy Abrams with 10 each.
The Illini have lost seven of nine and have fallen to 10th in the conference.
The Illini closed the gap on the Badgers very late but trailed by 15 with 5:13 to play.
The Badgers built that big lead on defense and run of impatient Illini shooting.
First, Myke Henry missed on a long 3-pointer, answered quickly by Berggren, whose short bucket put Wisconsin up 53-41 with 8:54 to play.
Then, after a quick miss on a 3-point try by Richardson, Evans sank a jump shot from the corner for a 55-41 edge.
Wisconsin survived a run by the Illini early in the half.
Illinois closed to 35-30 on a dunk by E.05gwu and had a chance to narrow that gap by two more when Joseph Bertrand stole the ball and fed Henry as he sprinted down court. But Henry, a reserve who plays just 10 minutes a game, missed the dunk. And an Assembly Hall crowd ready to explode instead could do nothing but groan.
Given that reprieve, the Badgers made Illinois pay.
Wisconsin went on an 8-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer from a wide-open Kaminsky -- so open he hesitated before taking the shot, glancing as if to look for a pass that might be the better option. And just like that the Badgers were up 43-30 with 14:33 to play.
Kaminsky played 23 minutes off the bench. Since having his left eye poked in the Indiana game he'd played just four minutes, and still has to wear protective goggles.
The Badgers shot 55.6 percent in the second half, and went to the free-throw line 31 times, hitting 19.
TOP 25
NO. 12 LOUISVILLE 70, MARQUETTE 51
LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- Russ Smith scored 18 points, Peyton Siva added 14 and No. 12 Louisville shot 52 percent to run away from No. 25 Marquette, 70-51.
Marquette (15-5, 6-2) had an opportunity to take a one-game lead on Syracuse, but the Golden Eagles were left settling for a first-place tie with the Orange. The Cardinals (18-4, 6-3) moved a half-game closer to both schools with their second straight win.
Gorgui Dieng added eight points and eight rebounds for Louisville.
Vander Blue had 17 points and Trent Lockett 16 for the Golden Eagles.
NO. 23 MINNESOTA 62, IOWA 59
MINNEAPOLIS -- Austin Hollins hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 11.6 seconds left, lifting Minnesota to a victory over Iowa.
Hollins finished with 17 points for the Gophers (17-5, 5-4 Big Ten).
Andre Hollins, who had 15 points, made two free throws to stretch the lead to three, and Mike Gesell's tying attempt rolled off the front rim.
Gesell had 11 points, and Aaron White and Zach McCabe each added 10 for Iowa (14-8, 3-6).
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