Final Stats

MADISON, Wis. (AP) - Devin Harris and Mike Wilkinson combined for 54 points Saturday, but that wasn't what impressed Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan most about them.

"That statistic looks great - and we obviously needed it - but they contributed everywhere," Ryan said after Harris scored a career-high 30 points and Wilkinson added a career-high 24 in the 21st-ranked Badgers' 76-56 victory over Illinois.

Harris and Wilkinson were a combined 19-of-30 from the field as the Badgers (13-3, 4-1 Big Ten) shot 52 percent to win their 24th straight home game and improve to 20-0 in conference home games under Ryan.

Harris was 9-of-15 from the field, including 4-of-7 on 3-pointers. He was 8-of-10 from the free throw line and helped shut down Dee Brown, Illinois' leading scorer.

Harris was coming off a game Wednesday against Michigan in which he scored a season-low five points.

Wilkinson was equally aggressive on the offensive end for the Badgers. He was 10-of-15 from the field and led the Badgers with nine rebounds.

Harris and Wilkinson are the main two reasons Illinois coach Bruce Weber sees Wisconsin as having a great chance to win its third straight Big Ten title.

"If Harris plays like that and Wilkinson plays like that, if your best players rise up and play special games like that in big games, they're going to be up there at the end of the year," Weber said.

Roger Powell scored a career-high 24 points to lead Illinois (12-5, 3-3), which has lost 11 of its last 12 games in Madison, including five straight.

The Illini shot 37 percent as a team and were held almost 21 points below their season scoring average.

Brown, who came in averaging 12.8 points per game, didn't score his first points until 8:29 remained in the game.

Guarded by Harris most of the game, Brown finished with four points and was 2-of-8 from the field.

"I just didn't knock down a couple shots I usually knock down," Brown said.

Illinois' starting backcourt of Brown and Deron Williams were a combined 5-of-21 from the field.

"Their success is consistency," Weber said of Wisconsin. "Our failure right now is our inconsistency."

After trailing by 12 points early in the second half, Illinois pulled within 44-40 after scoring eight straight points, including consecutive three-point plays by Powell.

But Wisconsin responded with a 15-2 run to take a 59-42 lead with 10:18 left in the game. Wilkinson scored seven points during the run and Harris added four, including two free throws after Illinois' Nick Smith was whistled for a technical foul.

"We didn't panic," Wilkinson said. "We just went down and kept running our offense and took what they gave us. We just ran great offense in the second half."

Harris had 16 points and Wilkinson 14 as Wisconsin took a 38-30 lead into halftime.

Wisconsin played its seventh straight game and 12th overall this season without forward Alando Tucker, who is out with an injured right foot.

The Badgers were also missing starting guard Freddie Owens, who missed his second straight game with an injured left foot.

"They had two guys go down, Tucker and Owens, and it doesn't seem like they skip a beat," Weber said.