Following a second-half resurgence and record-setting 40-point performance from fifth-year guard Terrence Shannon Jr., No. 2 Illinois men’s basketball moved onto the championship round. Illinois was opposite No. 5 Wisconsin, who knocked off No. 1 Purdue in an overtime thriller the day before. Despite the Badgers jumping out to a 10-point lead in the second half, the Illini rallied for an eventual 93-87 win and claimed the title of Big Ten tournament champions.

Head coach Brad Underwood stuck with graduate forwards Quincy Guerrier and Marcus Domask starting next to Shannon, senior forward Coleman Hawkins and sophomore guard Ty Rodgers.

Wisconsin came down with the tipoff, but both teams exchanged misses before getting on the board. Hawkins quickly opened up Illinois’ scoring with a three.

The Illini had a balanced approach early on, with four different players contributing to their first 10 points. Ahead of the game’s first media timeout, Domask found Guerrier for a three-pointer that opened up a 10-6 lead. 

The response was swift from the opposing side, and in the blink of an eye, Wisconsin had jumped in front by two. Both teams shared the ball among themselves and traded baskets until Shannon took over the Illini offense. The Chicago native totaled 13 points in the closing stretch, capped off by a transition three that put Illinois in front 41-40 at the half.

Although much of Illinois’ offense came from Shannon in the first half, Domask missed just one of his four shots and dished out three of Illinois’ five total assists. Rodgers was also a hounding presence on defense, picking up a steal and a block.

The second half began with an offensive downpour from both sides. Nearly four minutes passed before either team missed, with Illinois going 4-4 and Wisconsin going 6-6 in the process. Unfortunately for the Illini, Domask was the one to break the back and forth, which opened up the Badgers’ advantage.

Within 90 seconds, Wisconsin had a 10-point lead and appeared to be taking complete control of the game. However, the stops finally started to come for Illinois and the deficit evaporated as quickly as it had formed. 

Big plays from Guerrier, redshirt junior Dain Dainja and Shannon began to pile up, culminating in a strong finish from Shannon putting Illinois in front 67-65 with just over 10 minutes remaining.

Much like the regular season meeting between Illinois and Wisconsin, Domask could get any shot he wanted. Five straight points from the Wisconsin native gave Illinois its biggest lead of the game at 72-66. This just created more opportunities for Shannon, who got his defender off their feet for three free throws.

Despite having a quiet night as a scorer, Hawkins made his presence felt on both ends by pinning a Wisconsin layup on the backboard with both hands and tossing a pretty full-court assist to Dainja. 

The Illini turned to Shannon down the stretch time and time again. Shannon tipped in a last-second inbound pass, sank a deep three and drew two free throws in transition for seven straight points in the closing minutes (90-85). 

The Illini got a stop after the Badgers attempted to respond to Shannon’s outburst and forced intentional fouling to begin. Shannon and Domask salted the game away at the free-throw line, ultimately totaling 34 and 26 points in the 93-87 victory. On top of his excellent secondary scoring, Domask led the Illini in assists (8) and tied Dainja for most rebounds (7).

Netting 102 points for the Illini in their three Big Ten tournament games earned Shannon the Big Ten tournament’s Most Outstanding Player.

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