Illinois allows 69 combined points from Wisconsin guard duo of Nick Boyd and John Blackwell in an early exit in the 2026 Big Ten Tournament.

By Matt Stevens - IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 13, 2026

CHICAGO — It will be a one-day stay in Chicago for the University of Illinois men’s basketball program.

In similar fashion to their overtime loss to Wisconsin on Feb. 10 in Champaign, the No. 9 Illini saw a double-digit second half lead quickly evaporate and it would take a deep three-point attempt at the end of regulation bounce off the rim to send the game to another five minutes of action. Once in overtime, the Badgers dynamic guard duo of Nick Boyd and John Blackwell, which carried them through the first 40 minutes, dominated the overtime period giving the Illini a 91-88 loss in the quarterfinals of the 2026 Big Ten Tournament.

Boyd and Blackwell combined for 69 points on Friday to give the No. 23 Badgers (24-9) a second straight win in Chicago. Boyd’s 37 points set career high for the fifth-year guard and this victory represented the first time a pair of Wisconsin players both had at least 30 points in a game in over six decades.

Blackwell had 31 points including 19 in the second half and overtime on the birthday of his father. Blackwell’s father, Glynn, played college basketball at Illinois and was the team captain for the 1987–88 Illini squad.

Once the overtime period began, everybody involved in the Illinois offensive effort except for David Mirkovic completely went away. All Illini players except Mirkovic were 0 for 7 from the field. The first-year Illini forward, who was named earlier this week to the Big Ten’s All-Freshman Team, finished with 19 points. Keaton Wagler, the Big Ten Freshman of the Year selection, finished with 19 points but missed five of his last six field goal attempts in what will likely be his one and only career game in the league tournament.

Friday marked the second straight game against Wisconsin where the Illini could not survive a second-half onslaught by the Badgers guard duo. In the loss in Champaign last month, Illinois (24-8) led by as many as 12 points in the second half with eight minutes to play.

In his nine seasons leading the Illini men’s basketball program, Brad Underwood has only one win inside the United Center - an overtime victory over Northwestern in the opening round of the 2019 Big Ten Conference Tournament - and continues what will be a six-year drought of futility inside the Chicago Bulls home arena. Illinois is now 25-9 in Big Ten Tournament games when it is the higher seed but Friday’s result ended a four-game winning streak as the higher seed in the history of the event.

After struggling to find any consistency from beyond the three-point arc, Wisconsin managed to find some driving lanes in the second half to lead to 48 second-half points. The Badgers connected on just 10 of 41 shots from beyond the arc.

Andrej Stojakovic, who was inactive for the earlier home loss to Wisconsin last month, finished with 17 points and a team-high seven rebounds.

After back-to-back victories in Chicago against Washington and Illinois, Wisconsin will face No. 3 Michigan in the semifinals tomorrow afternoon on CBS. The Badgers were the only Big Ten team to defeat Michigan during the 2025-26 season.

Illinois will now have all day Saturday and most of Sunday to digest this early exit in the conference tournament and its third straight loss to an opponent with a winning record before it will get its seed, destination and first round opponent in the upcoming 2026 NCAA Tournament.