Wisconsin Badgers came home pretty wounded from a three-game road trip where they did not win a game. They host Illinois who hadn’t won a game in the Big Ten yet this season, although, the Illini put a good fight in a lot of those games. Wisconsin’s offense finally came together on Friday night routing the still winless Illini, 75-50. That’s a definite bright spot for this season as Wisconsin came on very strong in the second half.

Khalil Iverson wakes up from his slumber
I can’t remember the last time we talked about people not named Ethan Happ and Brad Davison, yet Iverson played really well in this game. Iverson did a great job shredding the 1-3-1 Illinois showed on a regular basis. Illinois didn’t have an answer for him as he attacked the lane and created more opportunities for others. Iverson playing well is usually a good sign for Wisconsin because it means the post scoring is not all about Happ.

Badgers find their three-point stroke
After Wisconsin went a woeful 13-for-51 in their last three games from three, they have a solid 7-of-19 from deep against Illinois. That’s a strong effort by the Badgers who haven’t been a great team from deep. Brevin Priztl continues to come on strong for this team as he scores 16 points with three made three pointers. This is his third game in four that he’s scored 10 or more points. Pritzl is becoming more of the three-point assassin that people expected him to be when he came to Madison.

Friday night block party
One thing to keep an eye on for the coming weeks is Nate Reuvers is starting to become a solid shot blocker for this team. He had five blocks last night and frustrated Illinois inside the paint. Reuvers doesn’t have the scoring there yet, which is part of the reason I think the team wanted to redshirt him this season yet the defense is there. That’s an encouraging sign for Wisconsin

Next up
Wisconsin heads to Iowa City for a matchup against the struggling Hawkeyes. Badgers look to exact some revenge for last year’s loss at the Kohl Center.