[media-credit name=’JEFF SCHORFHEIDE/Herald photo’ align=’alignright’ width=’336′][/media-credit] Style points don?t matter. Good thing for Wisconsin.

It wasn?t the dominant performance that may have been expected, given the two teams respective records, but Wisconsin (13-2, 3-0 Big Ten) did enough down the stretch to pull out a 70-60 victory over reeling Illinois (8-8, 3-3).

?We answered, we were resilient, we made plays when we had to,? UW head coach Bo Ryan said. ?That?s a game that?s going to be very typical in the Big Ten this year, I think.?

The two winningest teams in Big Ten Conference play over the last seven years are heading in different directions this season, as Wisconsin won for the seventh consecutive time and Illinois lost its fourth straight contest.

?Obviously it?s no fun ? to lose here is not a big deal, but the problem is when we lost at home ? Miami of Ohio, Tennessee State,? Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said. ?We shouldn?t be in this dilemma. If we had played this hard back at that time, we wouldn?t be at this point.?

The pesky Illini squad tried to make it a game in the second half, but every time Illinois made a run, Wisconsin had the answer.

The Illini pulled to within four points twice and three points twice in the second half ? each time the Badgers responded with a bucket of their own on the ensuing possession. Because of some clutch execution, Wisconsin was able to stave off losing at the Kohl Center for the third time in as many meetings against Illinois.

?Their record is what it is now, but they?re a very good team,? UW forward Brian Butch said. ?It was good to beat them tonight, but we still have to go back to their place to play them, and we know they?re going to be ready for us.?

After holding a significant lead for most of the first half, the Badgers found themselves up just six at halftime. That lead shrunk to four two minutes into the half as Illinois guard Trent Meacham opened the second stanza with a jumper off an assist from Chester Taylor.

On the very next trip down the floor, Butch, who finished the game with 16 points and seven rebounds, converted a layup to extend the lead back to six points.

?You try to let the game come to you as much as you can, and you try to go get it at times,? Butch said. ?That?s one of the instances where I just try to go get it. I knew we needed to get some points on the board and kind of keep on going.?

After UW pushed the lead back out to nine points on the first of Jason Bohannon?s 3-pointers, Illinois chipped away. Guard Calvin Brock scored five points on a 3-pointer and a dunk sandwiched around a Jon Leuer miss, and the Wisconsin lead was back to just four.

Bohannon then missed a three, but Greg Stiemsma was able to corral the rebound. The ball ended up in Trevon Hughes? hands and the point guard found a slashing Leuer, who finished with a two-handed dunk.

It was Hughes? turn to answer the Illini next. Meacham hit his fourth 3-pointer of the game coming out of the under-12 minute media timeout, but the UW point guard followed with a calmly hit fade-away from the right wing.

Hughes, who scored 22 points and tied career-highs with five assists and six steals, then went to work finishing off the Illini by driving the baseline and hitting an open Bohannon in the far corner for a three, picking the ball away from Taylor and burying a 23-foot 3-pointer behind a Butch screen to make it a nine-point UW lead and put the dagger in the Illini?s comeback hopes.

?He found people, and he also took good shots when he was open,? Ryan said.