In the last decade, the Assembly Hall has proved too tough for the Wisconsin Badgers. But armed with a No. 2 ranking and a veteran team, Wisconsin was able to find a way around such an obstacle, as it won its first game in Champaign since Jan. 25, 1997.

The 71-64 defeat on Saturday in front of a sold-out “Paint the Hall Orange” crowd brought the Illini’s record to 14-7 and 2-4 in Big Ten play. And after leading 62-61 with 3:48 to play, Illinois feels like its home winning-streak against Wisconsin (19-1, 5-0) should still stand.

“To have a team like this down any points with two minutes to go and then not make some plays, it hurts,” said red and teary-eyed Brian Randle. “We’re all accountable; I think we all feel it, it’s just one of those things where you feel like you should win a game, but we didn’t make those plays.”

It’s at the free throw line that Illinois could have made some of those plays. The Illini shot 60.9 percent (14-of-23) from the line, missing a number of key shots in the closing minutes of both halves. Both Rich McBride (15 points, four turnovers) and Randle (eight points on 2-of-4 shooting from the field) failed to convert on free throws in the final 55 seconds.

“You make some and you miss some,” said Randle, referring to the free throws. “We miss a couple in the stretch; I missed one to put us down two (points) – it just didnt fall.”

The Badgers, though, converted on a pair of free throws from Kammron Taylor and Michael Flowers to seal the victory. Illinois took a 62-59 lead off a Chester Frazier jumper, but missed shots on the next two possessions.

A Randle block forced Taylor (20 points) to misfire on a three-point attempt, but not before Alondo Tucker grabbed a rebound leading to two points for Wisconsin. The same type of sequence ensued on Wisconsin’s next possession.

Even before those plays, the Badgers’ supporting cast of players got involved. Reserve Greg Stiesma, who was left open after much of the attention reverted to Tucker (17 points on 6-of-18 shooting), sank two jumpers and Marcus Landry had a tip-in to give Wisconsin a 53-48 lead – baskets that head coach Bruce Weber called “back-breakers.”

“They have different people that could hurt you on different days,” Weber said. “They know their system, they execute it, they know who to look to, I think they have a chance to go a long way.”

Lost in Illinois’ defeat was Shaun Pruitt’s career-tying night. His 19 points and career-best 14 rebounds accounted for Illinois’ ability to keep pace with the Badgers and change leads 11 times. But without a win, the effort didn’t matter, he said.

“We didnt get the win. But I just wanted to play as hard as I could, that’s why I think this loss is kind of depressing, because we all played hard,” Pruitt said. “It was probably the hardest we played this season.”

The excitement of a McBride three-pointer that gave Illinois a 60-57 advantage with 5:07 to play, was an on-court display that bothered Weber. It’s also something he hopes not to see in Illinois’ Tuesday night game against Indiana, who knocked off Connecticut on Saturday.

“I want them to celebrate and feel good, but you do it in the huddle and you don’t run around the court and we’ve done it now a few times,” he said. “They don’t realize you celebrate at the end, and I’m not saying that won or lost the game, but it’s staying focused, maturity.”