With the season winding down, every game is a little more important than the one before it. As 11th-ranked Wisconsin welcomes Illinois to the Kohl Center tonight, there’s a lot on the line for both teams.

After both the Badgers and Illini beat then-No. 5 Michigan State last week, the two teams are tied just a game behind the Spartans. With MSU facing Purdue later tonight in another huge matchup, the winner of tonight’s game could potentially end the night tied for first place in the Big Ten.

On the other hand, if the Spartans win, the loser of this game would fall two games behind the conference leaders, just ahead of Purdue. No matter how it shakes out tonight, the two games on the slate for this evening will have a significant impact with just seven games remaining in conference play.

Illinois enters on a four-game win streak that has been spurred by impressive play from junior guard Demetri McCamey. Since the start of the new year, McCamey is averaging 17.4 points per game and 7.27 assists in each contest, both of which are well above his season averages.

As they’ve done consistently this season, the Badgers will need to minimize the impact of the star guard for the Illini. On the other end of the court, they’ll need to hit their open shots in a similar fashion to the way Wisconsin did against both MSU and Michigan.

Tonight promises to be a thrilling matchup on the Big Ten Network, and The Badger Herald is your source for live blog coverage. Please join Managing Editor Michael Bleach and Sports Editor Jordan Schelling as they bring you live play-by-play and commentary of tonight’s action from Section 208 at the Kohl Center.