Entering Tuesday’s contest, 51 unranked Big Ten opponents had entered the Kohl Center in the Bo Ryan era, and 51 times the Wisconsin Badgers emerged victorious.

Junior guard Demetri McCamey of Illinois would have none of that.

After a slow start through the first 10 minutes of play, McCamey and the Illini reignited the hot streak they had carried into the game, shooting better than 50 percent from the floor en route to a 63-56 victory over Wisconsin.

Although the No. 13 Badgers are not as highly ranked as Michigan State was when Illinois beat the Spartans over the weekend, the Illini recognize their most recent win was perhaps their biggest yet this season.

“Wisconsin is a tremendous team and they barely lose here,” McCamey said of the Kohl Center. “You never know the next team that will come in here and win. So, I’m just going to celebrate tonight and get back to work Thursday.”

Trailing by as many as nine points with the clock winding down, the Badgers kept firing up threes as if it were the only way they knew how to score points.

It did not work out as Wisconsin likely would have hoped, as Illinois stayed strong to the end, holding the Badgers to just 14 points in the final 17 minutes of play, including just eight over the final 10:06.

In that last 10-minute stretch, Ryan’s squad went just 2-for-12 from beyond the arc and 3-of-18 from the floor. After shooting 48 percent overall in the first half and 54.5 percent from beyond the arc, the Badgers hit just 16.7 percent of their shots down the stretch.

At no other point since Jon Leuer’s injury on Jan. 9, has it been so evident the Badgers need for his size inside when the shots are not falling from beyond the arc.

“They seem to rely so much on the three pointers,” Illinois head coach Bruce Weber said of the Badgers. “They really hurt us with threes early — maybe they fell in love with the three, because they didn’t make them late. … They don’t really go inside very much.”

After a slow start for both teams, but especially the Illini, McCamey and center Mike Tisdale sparked the Illinois offense, leading them with 27 and 19 points, respectively.

With 7:52 to play in the first half, the Badgers had their biggest lead at 21-11 after a four-point play by senior guard Trevon Hughes. It appeared at that point UW had control of the game, but momentum quickly swung to the Illini.

Wisconsin and Illinois went back-and-forth for each of the teams’ next two possessions, making it a 10-point UW lead at 25-15. But a McCamey layup following a Rob Wilson free throw sparked both the 6-foot-3 guard and the Illini offense.

McCamey scored 15 of the last 20 points in the half for Illinois, including three straight 3-pointers in the final three Illini possessions before the half, giving him 16 points at the break.

“The first three he made got him going all night,” Hughes said. “If we would have stopped that, probably things would have gone the other way, but he was able to be effective off the ball screen and make tough plays.”

Thanks to a buzzer-beating three ball by Hughes, however, UW headed to the locker room with the lead.

And after shooting a combined 51 percent in the first half, both teams stayed hot out of the break, combining for 29 points in the first seven minutes of play.

The game went back-and-forth again until the final five minutes of the game. With 5:16 remaining, senior guard Jason Bohannon drained a three to tie the game at 53.

Surprisingly enough, though, the shot from long distance did more to spark the visiting team than the Badgers, who would score just three more points in the game.

“I thought, ‘Man, here goes Bo again… the lucky horseshoe’s out again,'” Weber said of the shot. “But we were able to respond and make the play.”

Illinois went on a 9-0 run over the next five minutes before Wilson hit a 3-pointer with 16 seconds remaining.

As the Badgers went 0-for-9 during Illinois’ run, the Illini hit 5-of-7 free throws between the Badgers’ made baskets, both of which were threes.

“We were right in the right position until the end of the game,” Bohannon said. “We were still doing other things that were keeping us there… we just have to find a way to make those shots.”