National Basketball Association
BOXSCORE | RECAP
Wisconsin 63, Illinois 55
When: 7:30 PM ET, Sunday, January 31, 2016
Where: State Farm Center, Champaign, Illinois
Officials: # Eric Curry, # John Higgins, # Lamont Simpson
Attendance: 13609

Junior forward Nigel Hayes scored 17 points to lead Wisconsin to a 63-55 victory over Illinois on Sunday night at State Farm Center in Champaign, Ill.

Junior guard Bronson Koenig scored 11 points for Wisconsin (13-9, 5-4 Big Ten Conference), which has won four in a row. Freshman forward Khalil Iverson had 10 points.

Junior guard Malcolm Hill scored 22 points for Illinois (10-12, 2-7). Junior guard Kendrick Nunn had 15 points.

Illinois raced out to an 11-4 lead over the first five minutes and went up 18-10 on two free throws by Hill midway through the half. Wisconsin battled back to cut the deficit to one on a jumper by Hayes and took a 23-22 lead on a dunk by Iverson.

The Badgers carried a 33-28 advantage into the break and maintained a slight lead over the first 10 minutes of the second half.

The Fighting Illini trailed by three following a free throw by Hill with 11:05 to go, but the Badgers mounted a 9-2 run to extend their lead to double digits. The Illini got within five in the final minutes, but the Badgers held on to win.
Top Game Performances
 
Wisconsin   Illinois
Nigel Hayes 17 Scoring Malcolm Hill 22
Nigel Hayes 2 Assists Khalid Lewis 2
Ethan Happ 9 Rebounds Maverick Morgan 4
Nigel Hayes 7 Free Throws Made Malcolm Hill 9
Ethan Happ 2 Steals Alex Austin 1
Khalil Iverson 1 Blocks N/A
Team Stats Summary
 
Team Points FG% 3PM-3PA FTM-FTA Assists Rebounds Blocks Steals Turnovers
Wisconsin 63 44.0 2-14 17-20 8 34 1 6 12
Illinois 55 36.0 6-14 13-15 6 22 0 6 11