If the Big Ten championship being at stake wasn’t exciting enough as Wednesday night’s contest between Wisconsin and Illinois tipped off, the conclusion certainly broke the scales.

Devin Harris’ free throw with 0.4 seconds left on the clock gave Wisconsin a 60-59 lead and put the finishing touch on the Badgers’ second Big Ten title in as many years.

This time, however, it belongs solely to them.

In what was easily Wisconsin’s most electrifying game of the season, the Badgers outlasted an improbable Illini comeback in the final minutes of the game and gave the fans in the sold-out Kohl Center exactly what they came to see.

An emotional and exhilarating atmosphere circulated through the Kohl Center as the game began, just moments after the University of Wisconsin honored its only senior, four-year star Kirk Penney.

The Badgers took an early 14-8 lead on baskets by Penney and Alando Tucker before allowing a 9-0 Illinois run that put the visiting team up by 3 at 17-14 as the Illini attacked the post of the undersized Wisconsin line-up.

Trailing 19-16 with 8:23 to go in the first half, Devin Harris knocked down consecutive 3-pointers, freshman Alando Tucker added another of his own and Wisconsin regained the lead 25-19, bringing the entire Kohl Center to its feet.

The teams traded baskets down the stretch, and the Badgers took a 32-26 lead to the locker room despite shooting just 44 percent.

Harris, Penney and Tucker had each notched 9 points at the break while big men Mike Wilkinson and Dave Mader accounted for the other 5.

Illinois senior Brian Cook was held in check with just 9 points on 3-7 shooting in the half, as the 6-5 Tucker consistently pestered the 6-11 forward.

“If there’s another freshman who can do the things that Alando’s done this year, I’d like to see him,” said head coach Bo Ryan after the game. “Because how far he’s come this year is amazing.”

With 8:23 to go in the game, Tucker picked up his fourth personal foul and sat down by Ryan.

Cook took advantage of Tucker’s absence and managed to keep Illinois within striking distance, pouring in 16 second-half points.

A Wilkinson 3-pointer with 2:37 to go gave Wisconsin a 58-50 lead and the 17,142 in attendance began to breathe a sigh of relief as the game was seemingly in hand for the Badgers.

But a 9-1 Illini run in the final two minutes tied the score as Cook knocked down a 12-foot jumper with 11 seconds to play.

After a timeout, Harris dribbled the ball atop the key before exploding to his left and heaving up a desperation layup as time expired. The ball never made it to the basket but amidst the roaring crowd a definite whistle sounded and a foul was called on freshman Dee Brown.

After the officials confirmed that the foul had occurred with time remaining on the clock, a confident and determined Harris stepped to the line.

His first attempt circled the cylinder before rolling out, and the Big Ten championship came down to one final free throw.

Eyeing the hoop with ice water in his veins, Harris calmly lofted the ball through the net and sent the entire Kohl Center into jubilation.

“I really wasn’t worried about missing the first one,” Harris said after game. “All that did was take away the option of [intentionally] missing the second.”

With only 0.4 seconds left on the clock, Illinois couldn’t get off a final desperation shot and for the second consecutive year the student section rushed the floor at the conclusion of UW’s final home game of the season.

The title is UW’s second in a row and marks the Badgers’ first back-to-back conference championships since 1923 and 1924.

“It’s an unbelievable feeling,” Penney said of winning the title. “We always said ‘We haven’t won anything yet,’ but now we finally have.”

Penney, in his final game in the Kohl Center, led UW with 14 points, while Harris added 13.

Ryan became just the third coach ever to win consecutive Big Ten titles in his first two years with a program and received nothing but compliments in the post-game press conference.

“We just bought into what he was teaching and we all believed in him,” Penney said of Ryan. “And he also believed in us.”

Wisconsin will receive the No. 1 seed in next weekend’s Big Ten tournament in Chicago before finding out where they will be heading for the first round of the NCAA tournament.

“I can’t believe I’m allowed to do this for a living,” Ryan commented. “I’m having as much fun as anyone right now.”