[media-credit name=’Derek Montgomery’ align=’alignnone’ width=’648′][/media-credit]It’s a noteworthy occasion when Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan has nothing to say. While often the answers to specific questions addressed to Ryan come packaged in ambiguities — or the occasional off-the-handle anecdote — rarely is the gregarious helmsman caught speechless.

Yet, after his Badgers fell to top-ranked Illinois Tuesday — bringing to an end the nation’s longest home winning streak at 38 games — Ryan didn’t seem in the mood for small talk.

“Five-for-12 for us, 17-for-20 for them,” Ryan curtly responded when asked to comment on the staggering free-throw shooting differential.

Illinois head coach Bruce Weber, on the other hand, appeared more willing to comment. Of all the games on the conference docket for Illinois, many circled the Tuesday-night matchup as the top candidate to blemish the Illini’s sparkling early-season record. In the wake of victory, Weber liked what the performance said about his squad.

“I know this: not many people are coming in here and winning in the league,” Weber said. “I told the kids if we win this, we’re going to be one up on everyone.”

Over the course of Ryan’s tenure, the Badgers and Illini clashed three times at the Kohl Center prior to Tuesday night. On the second of such occurrences — game 13 in the now-defunct streak — the Badgers snuck past then-No. 13 Illinois 60-59 in the final game of the season to claim their second-consecutive Big Ten title.

After securing victory in the Tuesday-night title fight, Weber admitted several of his players probably looked forward to the opportunity to exact revenge.

“I didn’t make it a goal, but I think they did in their minds and they feel good about it,” Weber said.

For Illinois superstars and co-point men Deron Williams and Dee Brown in particular — who were still freshman prospects for the 2002 conference runner-up — the long-awaited vindication was especially well received.

“We had hoped to end it two years ago, to win the Big Ten Championship, and we came up short,” Williams said. “Last time we came here and got blown out, so we had a lot on our minds. [This] was one of those games we wanted to focus on, and when it came time … it’s a special moment right now.”

Last spring, Wisconsin embarrassed the Illini in Weber’s inaugural season, notching a 76-56 victory behind a combined 54-point effort by forward Mike Wilkinson and point guard Devin Harris. The defensive backcourt tandem of Harris and two-guard Boo Wade limited Williams and Brown to 5-for-21 from the field.

However, with Harris now carrying the rock for the Mavericks in the NBA and Wade tied up in legal troubles, Brown and Williams combined for 21 points, 11 assists and eight boards in Tuesday night’s episode.

Illinois guard Luther Head also saw extensive minutes in the 2004 stomping but managed to add only nine points to the Illini tally. Now the leading scorer of the nation’s top-ranked squad and most-heralded backcourt, Head appropriately lead all scorers Tuesday with 18 points while dishing out four assists on the side.

“It’s been tough for us (playing at Wisconsin),” Head said after the game. “But when you get the strength to go up to someone like that and fight against that kind of crowd, it gives your team more confidence.”

Following the win, the Illini improved to 20-0 on the season and will likely strengthen their hold on the No. 1 spot with all but one first-place vote already in their possession between the two major polls.

Although Illinois posted a number of significant wins against highly ranked squads over the course of an arduous non-conference schedule, Williams still cited the Wisconsin victory as the highlight of their season.

“We had a lot of great wins — over Wake (Forest), Gonzaga — but with this streak that they had here and the history of the building, this is probably tops right now,” Williams said.

From the Badgers’ camp, the lingering feeling of disappointment after the loss stemmed more from practical implications than symbolic ones.

“I’m really proud to be a part of a team that won 38 wins in a row at home,” Wisconsin guard Sharif Chambliss said. “[But] more importantly, we lost a conference game tonight. If we’re looking at our goal of being where we should be in the Big Ten, that’s the bigger story. We lost an important game in our race through the Big Ten.”

With the loss, Michigan State and Indiana passed Wisconsin in the conference standings with the undefeated Illini now two games ahead.

Even though the Badgers remain downtrodden in the wake of a missed opportunity to gain ground on a conference powerhouse, they say the middle of the Big Ten schedule is not a good time to dwell on a loss.

“It’s over, you know — you gotta move on,” Wilkinson said. “We’re going to take this game and learn from it. It’s frustrating now but, as a competitor, if you lost and you weren’t frustrated, that would be worse.”