MADISON, Wis. – The Kohl Center crowd erupted when James Augustine picked up his third foul Tuesday.

The Illini forward’s first two fouls came early in the game, and as soon as he hit the bench after the second foul the Badgers began a run that put them up by 11 before Augustine came back. Once he returned, he helped the Illini to a 19-0 run and a 34-28 lead at the half.

The Badgers followed Augustine’s third foul with a quick bucket, but this time Illinois’ big man stayed in the game, as did his team, and the Illini ultimately won 66-51.

“We’ve done it at home. It’s easy to do it at home when everyone’s cheering for you,” Weber said. “Doing it on the road, where everyone’s cheering against you, is when it’s special.”

The No. 6 Illini are now 20-2 overall and 6-2 in the Big Ten, putting them at the top of the conference.

It’s a familiar place for most of the Illini players, including Dee Brown, who came to the conference wearing a T-shirt that read “New team, same results.”

“We just came out as a team, came together and played well,” Brown said. “I can’t say enough about the guys who made plays.”

But most important for Illinois was the improvement to 2-2 in Big Ten road games – where the team has struggled this season and where it needs to stay strong if it hopes to be a back-to-back-to-back conference champion.

“Coach Weber talks about being special and winning on the road,” Augustine said. “That’s what we did last year to be Big Ten champs.”