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No. 4 Wisconsin dominates No. 23 Illinois at home

Traevon Jackson, Maverick Morgan, Rayvonte Rice

Wisconsin’s Traevon Jackson, left, shoots against Illinois’ Maverick Morgan, behind, and Rayvonte Rice during the first half of an NCAA college basketball game Wednesday, Jan. 8, 2014, in Madison, Wis. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

AP

Ironically enough, the only game between ranked teams on Wednesday night ended being the worst game of the night for the viewer.

No. 4 Wisconsin jumped out to a 33-10 lead on No. 23 Illinois in the first 11 minutes, coasting to a 95-70 win in which the Badgers were never once challenged.

With the win, Wisconsin improves to 16-0 on the season, the best start in school history. More impressive? They’ve now won a game in the 40s, 50s, 60s, 70s, 80s, 90s, and 100s. They can beat you playing any style you want to play. How many teams can say that?

But we knew that. Tonight may have been more telling about Illinois. The Illini got worked over by Wisconsin, but that will happen from time-to-time in the Kohl Center. The reason this was concerning is how the Badgers did it. The strength of the Illini is their defense, and it was shredded by the Badgers. They shot 56.1% from the floor and 8-for-19 from three. They committed just four turnovers on the night. Wisconsin not only scored 95 points, they did it on 71 possessions, good for 1.338 PPP.

Wisconsin is good, but Illinois is going to have to come stronger than that if they want to be relevant in the Big Ten.

Follow @robdauster