Wisconsin improved to 176-16 at the Kohl Center under Bo Ryan, including a mark of 86-9 in Big Ten Conference games.
The Badgers are 3-0 in Big Ten play for the first time since 2008-09.
Wisconsin’s current six-game winning streak is the longest since Jan. 12-31, 2012.
The Badgers have now won four straight meetings with Illinois and 11 of the last 15. The 23-point margin of victory was the largest for Uw over the Illini since a 101-75 win on Jan. 19, 1974.
UW held Illinois scoreless for the first 6:47 of the game, opening the contest on a 14-0 run. The Illini didn’t make their first shot from the field until the 12:38 mark of the first half.
UW is now 118-1 at home under Bo Ryan when holding its opponent under 60 points.
Illinois’ 51 points was its lowest scoring output of the season. its previous low was 61 points at Purdue on Jan. 2.
UW entered the game shooting 38.2 percent from the field in its first two Big Ten games. The Badgers made 28-of-57 (49 percent) today.
Player Notes
Sophomore Traevon Jackson scored a career-high 14 points, tying his career-best with five field goals and a pair of three-pointers.
Senior Jared Berggren tallied his first career double-double, registering 15 points and a season-best 12 rebounds. It was his fourth career double-digit rebounding game. Berggren tallied two more blocked shots, giving him 104 for his career and moving him into fourth place by himself on UW’s career list. He leads the Big Ten with 33 blocks this season.
Freshman Sam Dekker scored 13 points, the third-best effort of his career and his most since scoring a career-high 19 vs. Arkansas on Nov. 24. Dekker tied a career-best with three makes from beyond the arc. It was his eighth double-digit scoring performance of the season.