CHICAGO – After facing a more difficult than anticipated Penn State team on Thursday and then taking Indiana to overtime Friday evening, the Illini ran out of firepower Saturday. In a match-up against Wisconsin, one of the country’s top teams throughout the season, Illinois fell 53-41 in the semifinals of the Big Ten Tournament at the United Center.

“We defended halfway decent; we just turned the ball over too many times,” head coach Bruce Weber said. “Not much legs and not much gas in the tank to get things done.”

The Illini (23-11) committed 15 turnovers and shot just 33.3 percent from the field as it came up with “too many empty possessions,” said Weber. Illinois got out to a quick 8-2 lead before Wisconsin (29-4) created a 23-26 advantage with 3:19 to play in the first half. The Illini battled back to 27-25 off a Rich McBride three-pointer, but the three games in the past three days proved to be too much.

“They took Shaun (Pruitt) away inside and that made it difficult to get easy looks and we never just got into rhythm,” Weber said.

Senior Warren Carter, the only Illini to score in double figures, finished with 14 points (6-of-12 shooting) and four rebounds, while Pruitt and McBride both added nine points. Wisconsin forward Alando Tucker scored a game-high 21 points, which made the senior the Badger’s all-time leading scorer. In his time at Wisconsin, Tucker has scored 2,166 points.

“It’s a great feat and a great accomplishment,” Tucker said. “The team has been so successful, that it’s helped me out the way the team’s been playing. It’s happened unselfishly.”

While the Badgers will face Ohio State in the finals of the Big Ten Tournament on Sunday-a game that will likely decide whether or not they are given a No.1 seed in the NCAA Tournament-the Illini will have to see whether their two weekend wins were enough to get them invited at all. The NCAA Tournament selections show begins Sunday at 5 p.m.

“I think we deserve it; we’ve been good down the stretch and (with) our body of work, it looks like we’re in good shape,” Carter said. “But you still never know.”