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Bohannon's 3-pointers help Wisconsin halt slide

Feb 6, 2009 - 6:00 AM MADISON, Wisconsin (Ticker) -- Jason Bohannon's early assault from the outside and Wisconsin's signature defense was all the Badgers needed to get back into the win column.

Bohannon made six 3-pointers and tied a career high with 20 points as Wisconsin ended a six-game losing streak with a 63-50 victory over No. 21 Illinois on Thursday.

Marcus Landry scored 16 points and Jon Leuer added 15 for the Badgers (13-9, 4-6 Big Ten), who held the Fighting Illini to 33-percent shooting (21-of-64), including 4-of-21 from the arc.

Wisconsin had lost its last five games by an average of only 3.8 points but left no doubt in this one.

"Before, losing games came down to the final few possessions - us making mistakes or the other team getting hot," Landry said. "In those games, I believe we also had a lead but today we maintained our lead."

Illinois (18-5, 6-4) jumped out to a 7-2 lead but Bohannon made consecutive 3-pointers and Landry scored five points as Wisconsin responded to take a 17-11 advantage.

"It was very big for us," Bohannon said. "We needed to start fast and finish strong. There have been times in games where we've had a three- or four-minute stretch where we didn't necessarily play Wisconsin basketball. Tonight we played a full 40 minutes and it really paid off."

Bohannon continued to have the hot hand and his fifth 3-pointer of the half gave the Badgers a 35-21 lead with 2:21 left before the break. Wisconsin held a 37-25 advantage at the intermission, which was Illinois' largest halftime deficit of the season.

"We thought sooner or later Bohannon would get going and we hoped it wouldn't be against us," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "They ran a new play against us, a squeeze that Iowa runs, and he hit the first one and then we lost him a couple of times and he got his head up."

Wisconsin pushed the lead up to 44-27 on another 3-pointer by Bohannon but Illinois answered with seven quick points to make it a 10-point game.

That would be as close as the Fighting Illini could get, however, as the Badgers' defense was stifling the rest of the way, holding Illinois to 16 points over the final 15:43 of the contest.

Bohannon finished the game 6-of-9 from the field, including 6-of-7 from the arc for Wisconsin. The junior sharpshooter missed his only 3-pointer with 5:54 left to play.

"I thought our movement away from the ball was pretty decent," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. "We made them cover, and they didn't do a bad job of it. We hit some shots that made them have to stretch a little bit early."

Mike Davis had 14 points and 11 rebounds and Demetri McCamey scored 12 to pace the Fighting Illini, who have lost four straight road games.