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Illinois nearly ended its long period of misery against the University of Wisconsin's men's basketball team.
But Brad Davison and Khalil Iverson made sure that the Fighting Illini would not have passed.
Davison finished with 18 points, a top in the match, for the No. 22 Badgers, who extended their winning streak against Illinois to 15, with a 64-58 win Monday night at the Kohl Center.
Iverson, a senior striker, added 16 points, nine rebounds, two steals and a big block to help UW (18-8, 10-5 Big Ten) take a two-game losing streak and tie with Maryland for fourth place in the conference.
The 22nd Wisconsin Badgers men's basketball team was imposed against the Illinois Fighting Illini, 64-58, Monday night at the Madison Kohl Center.
The Badgers won despite a night off the senior center Ethan Happ, who finished with six points, three rebounds and three turnovers and found himself benched in a tight match.
Davison and Iverson helped catch up with the game. UW also received significant contributions from second guard D'Mitrik Trice, second-year striker Nate Reuvers and junior guard Brevin Pritzl.
First-year guard Ayo Dosunmu scored 13 points to lead the Illini (10-16, 6-9), who lost their run of four straight wins.
Former Aaron Jordan and rookie Giorgi Bezhanishvili added 12 and 10 points, respectively, to Illinois, who have not beaten UW since January 2, 2011.
The Badgers led 47-41 after Davison scored a goal at 7:47.
But Bezhanishvili scored and sophomore Trent Frazier got a lucky bounce on a 3-pointer to draw Illinois to less than one goal.
After Iverson made four free throws on two possessions to extend UW's lead to 51-46, Dosunmu produced a 3-point pointer and a three-point play over the three-property period to tie it at 52. 06.
Davison scored on a pullover and, after a massive blocking of Iverson on Bezhanishvili, he scored again in transition to give UW a 56-52 lead.
After the Illini returned to 58-56 on a basket from Andres Feliz, Davison made two free throws in 57.3 seconds to restore UW's lead by four points.
After Dosunmu made two free throws to bring the score to 60-58, UW followed and Pritzl missed a 3 pointer from the right wing. But Reuvers was there for the putback, giving the Badgers a 62-58 lead with 22.9 seconds remaining.
Iverson stole an inside pass, was fouled and made a free kick to conclude his big night. He finished at one point near his career high and a rebound in his first career double.
UW shot 32.1% in the first period and had to pull together to reach that figure after missing 14 of his first 17 field shots.
The Badgers collected six points on their first 19 possessions, with five turnovers in this sequence.
The defense kept UW in the game, though. Illinois shots were not much better (34.6%), and the Illini took a one-point lead after Iverson beat the buzzer with a snap at the return after a failure of Happ.
This story will be updated.
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