While there is no such thing as a must-win game in mid-December, No. 20 Wisconsin and previously-ranked Illinois will have a strong urge to return to the win column Tuesday night in Champaign, Ill., after a disappointing week.Wisconsin (8-2, 0-1 Big Ten) lost its conference opener at home to Michigan last Tuesday before absorbing an 88-74 defeat to No. 5 Marquette on Saturday at Milwaukee.”We don’t have time to feel sorry for ourself,” Badgers coach Greg Gard said.Wisconsin led the Golden Eagles 45-42 two minutes into the second half before Marquette’s pressure took its toll. The Badgers committed seven turnovers over the next nine minutes when they were outscored 25-10 and chased a double-digit deficit the rest of the way.”I’m sure I’m going to find that the vast majority (of the turnovers) were self-inflicted,” Gard said. “We have to play off two feet better. John Tonje, it’s an ongoing quest with him to play off two feet because it’s going to allow him to finish better. It’s going to allow him to get to the free-throw line more and it’s going to allow him to make better decisions because he’s not going to get caught up in the air with the ball.”If it’s any consolation to Gard, Illinois’ defensive style is nothing like Marquette’s.Per KenPom.com, the Illini rank a distant last in the Big Ten by forcing turnovers on just 14.6 percent of possessions. On the other hand, they lead the nation in effective field-goal percentage defense (40.6 percent) and only allow opponents to shoot 25.1 percent on 3-pointers.Illinois deliberately runs opponents off the 3-point line and encourages them to shoot inside the arc.While the Illini were successful with that strategy at Northwestern on Friday, the Wildcats found ways to power their way into opportunities from the mid-range. Northwestern overcame a 10-point second-half deficit to win 70-66 in overtime, dropping then-No. 19 Illinois (6-2, 0-1) from this week’s rankings.
