Feb. 16--MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin star Frank Kaminsky did not score in the second half Sunday until about four minutes remained against Illinois.
No matter.
Kaminsky had done enough damage and received plenty of help from his dangerous teammates to dominate Illinois 68-49 at the Kohl Center.
Illinois center Nnanna Egwu delivered a message in the postgame handshake line.
"I just told him he's the best player in college basketball and he should win the (Wooden Award)," Egwu said.
Kaminsky, a Benet graduate, delivered a loud-and-clear message too.
He scored 17 of his 23 points in the first half, shooting 11 of 16 for the game and grabbing 11 rebounds.
While he went scoreless through the first 15 minutes, 52 seconds of the second half, teammates Bronson Koenig stepped in with 13 of his 15 points in the second half while Nigel Hayes scored 10 of his 14.
Illinois (17-9, 7-6 Big Ten) was kicking itself for making careless mistakes that proved costly against the efficient No. 5 Badgers.
The Illini were outrebounded 32-25, with the Badgers grabbing more offensive boards (15) than the Illini had defensive rebounds (14).
"We got browbeat on the backboards," Groce said. "It's unacceptable. Three of them were on free-throw block-outs. That part was really disappointing."
The Illini were outscored 36-14 in the paint, 12-9 in second-chance points and 16-5 in points off turnovers.
"It's real hard," said guard Malcolm Hill, who led the Illini with 15 points. "If we make mistakes and are beating ourselves, we're going to lose by a lot against a really good team. They're so discipline and can execute to perfection. We got blown out because of it."
After trailing by as many as 15 points in the second half, Illinois used a 9-0 run to close to within nine points with 8:26 left. But the Illini couldn't sustain it.
The Badgers (23-2, 11-1) ended the game with an 11-2 run.
Illini guard Kendrick Nunn, who was coming off a 21-point game against Michigan, was limited to 2-of-10 shooting for seven points. It was his first single-digit point game since he scored seven against Maryland on Jan. 7.
"He just didn't have a good day," Groce said.
The loss snapped a four-game winning streak for the Illini, who are trying to build an NCAA tournament profile with Selection Sunday a month away.
The Illini have a week off before hosting Michigan State, and they hope they can shake off this loss.
"It's real important," Hill said. "We lost to a good team. We can't really hang our heads about it."
sryan@tribpub.com
