Badgers clinch Big Ten outright

Minnesota cut Illinois’
11-point second half lead to just one before losing.

ASSOCIATED PRESS

EVANSTON, Ill. — No sharing, thank you. Wisconsin finished all alone atop the Big Ten at the end of the regular season. Just the way coach Bo Ryan likes it.

Brian Butch scored 20 points and matched a career high with 14 rebounds as the Badgers used a strong second half to beat Northwestern 65-52 on Saturday and clinch the championship outright.

Wisconsin heads into next week’s Big Ten tournament as the top seed.

“To win it outright is nice. It eliminates some of the conversation this part of the season,” Ryan said. “There’s one that stands alone and that’s the team in that locker room. And that feels pretty good.”

Jason Bohannon added 15 points, and Marcus Landry scored eight straight during a 10-0 second-half run to help Wisconsin (26-4, 16-2) pull away.

It was the second outright regular-season title in Ryan’s seven seasons at Wisconsin. The Badgers shared it one other time during his highly successful run.

“I never compare teams, but as far as satisfying and a group coming a ways, this group has come as far as any team I’ve ever had,” Ryan said.

Illinois 67, Minnesota 58

CHAMPAIGN, Ill. — During Shaun Pruitt and Brian Randle’s career at Illinois, the Illini have never lost a game on Senior Day. That streak appeared to be in jeopardy when Minnesota cut Illinois’ 11-point second half lead to just one.

But Trent Meacham scored a key 3-pointer late in the game and had a game-high 21 points to lift Illinois.

Calvin Brock added a season-high 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds for Illinois (13-18, 5-13 Big Ten) and Demetri McCamey had eight points.

Illinois used an early second half run to pull away from the Golden Gophers, who were coming off a 69-55 loss to No. 18 Indiana on Wednesday. After leading by one point at halftime, Illinois was propelled by a 10-0 run, highlighted by back-to-back 3-pointers from Meacham.