The 54 combined points from Marcus Domask and Terrence Shannon Jr. allowed No. 13 Illinois to escape with its fourth straight victory in Madison.

Matt Stevens, IlliniGuys Staff Writer

March 2, 2024

MADISON, Wis. — The dynamic offensive duo of Terrence Shannon Jr. and Marcus Domask made what had been historically a den of losses for the Illini seem immediately less daunting.

Shannon and Domask combined for 54 points for Illinois to get their fourth straight victory inside the Kohl Center in Madison, Wis., as Illinois walked away with a 91-83 win.

The victory means No. 13 Illinois (22-7, 13-5 in Big Ten Conference) has now clinched a double-bye in the upcoming league tournament in Minneapolis.

Domask, who led Waupun (Wis.) High School to a state runner-up finish as a senior and the school's first-ever state title as a freshman while earning Gatorade Player of the Year in 2016 and a trip to the state championship game, finished with 31 points in his return to his home state.

Shannon, who came in ranking second in the Big Ten in scoring at 21.9 points per game - the highest scoring average by an Illini since Nick Weatherspoon’s 25.0 ppg in 1973, finished with 23 points with eight of them coming from the foul line.

The duo combined for 11 of the Illini’s last 17 points to close out another road victory.

It took nearly five minutes for Shannon to attempt his first field goal but the All-American candidate was feeling confident in the first half as he finished 3 of 5 from three-point range and accounted for both of Illinois’ fastbreak baskets in the first half.

Foul trouble hindered Wisconsin (18-11, 10-8 in Big Ten) as leading scorer AJ Storr had to leave with six minutes and 28 seconds left in the first half after two fouls and 7-foot Steven Crowl picked up his third foul with 18 minutes and 41 seconds left in the game.

Without the perimeter scoring and inside presence of Storr and Crowl, Wisconsin’s offense became pedestrian against Illinois, which has scored at least 80 points in eight straight games - the longest streak since the famous Flyin’ Illini squad’s 12 in 1989.

Wisconsin was led by 20 points from Tyler Wahl as the fifth-year senior was 9 of 14 from the field.

Illinois head coach Brad Underwood became the first Illini sideline leader to win four straight games in Madison since Lou Henson pulled off the trick from 1984-88. Underwood’s Illini program moved to 54-14 all-time under the seventh-year head coach when they scored at least 80 points in a contest.

Today’s matchup was the first of three straight games against Quad 1 opponents  to close out the 2023-24 regular season. Illinois will have a Senior Day game on Tuesday night when they host No. 2 Purdue before finishing the slate with a road trip to Iowa.