The Badgers face Illinois on Tuesday night in Champaign. The game will be televised on BTN at 8:00 p.m. CT. Tuesday night will be the only time Wisconsin and Illinois match up this year.

Projected Starters

Wisconsin
G: Bronson Koenig (14.4 PPG, 2.1 APG)
G: Zak Showalter (7.8 PPG, 2.2 APG)
F: Nigel Hayes (13.4 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 3.2 APG)
F: Vitto Brown (7.8 PPG, 4.3 RPG)
C: Ethan Happ (14.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG, 2.9 APG)

Illinois
G: Te’Jon Lucas (4.4 PPG, 2.5 APG)
G: Jalen Coleman-Lands (8.7 PPG, 2.3 RPG)
G: Malcolm Hill (17.5 PPG, 5.9 RPG, 2.7 APG)
F: Leron Black (9.2 PPG, 6.6 RPG)
C: Maverick Morgan (10.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG)

The Fighting Illini have had a rough go in the Big Ten schedule so far. Illinois has dropped four of their last five on their way to a 3-6 conference record.

The one bright spot for Illinois is senior Malcolm Hill, who leads the team in scoring at 17.5 points per game. Hill is shooting nearly 50% from the field and 35% from behind the three-point line.

“Hill is versatile,” assistant coach Howard Moore said. “He’s got experience, he’s a four-year player. He’s played a lot of minutes in those four years. He’s seen a lot of different things, some good and bad times.”

Moore also had some nice things to say about Illinois’s Maverick Morgan, who’s averaging 10.2 PPG: “The improvement of Morgan made an impression on me…it’s impressive to me to see how he’s made himself an option.”

Illinois has played tough at home, however, which the Badgers took notice of. The Fighting Illini beat Iowa by ten at home on January 25th.

“They’re going to be good,” Moore said. “They are very good at home so we’ll see some juice.”

The Badgers starters had a lighter practice following the overtime victory against Rutgers with the goal being to rest some of the starters. Nigel Hayes and Bronson Koenig both played 40 minutes and Ethan Happ played 36 minutes.

Last year the Badgers beat Illinois in both games they faced off, winning by nine at home and eight on the road. Malcolm Hill averaged 21.5 points in the two games and Hayes scored 17 in each game.

Illinois’s starting freshman point guard Te’Jon Lucas is from Milwaukee, while Happ’s home state is Illinois.

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