Kohl Center - Madison, WI
Tip-off: Sunday, 1:00 p.m. ET
Line: Wisconsin -13

No. 5 Wisconsin looks to continue its recent dominance over Illinois when these two Big Ten rivals meet on Sunday for the only time this season.

No. 5 Wisconsin is historically one of the most dominant home teams in the country, and this season is no exception (12-1 SU) although the covers haven’t been as consistent at the Kohl Center, especially in conference play (6-6-1 ATS; 1-4-1 ATS in-conference). Wisconsin has owned Illinois recently, though, going 7-0 SU and ATS since Illinois’ last win against the Badgers in Jan. 2011. The last 10 games in this series have predominantly hit the Over (8-2), but the average line has been only 122.5. The Illini do own the biggest win at the Kohl Center since its opening, a Jan. 2005 win during their Final Four season, when they snapped the Badgers’ 38-game home winning streak. Illinois is (2-8 SU, 3-7 ATS) in its last 10 trips to the Kohl Center dating back to Jan. 2006. The Illini are fresh off a 64-52 overtime victory Thursday over Michigan in Champaign, a payback win for Michigan’s home overtime victory in December. Much like that December game, the home team (in this case, Illinois) took control in the extra period (Illinois dominated overtime, 14-2). C Nnanna Egwu (7 PPG, 5.8 RPG, 1.8 BPG) scored all six of his points Thursday in the extra period, out-muscling the smaller Wolverines in the paint. Wisconsin continued cruising along in conference play with a 65-55 win in Lincoln versus Nebraska on Tuesday. The Badgers have proven they can play at any pace and still be successful: Speed them up and they’ll beat you like they beat Indiana on Feb. 3, 92-78. Try to grind the pace down and Wisconsin will gladly play at their preferred pace as they did in the aforementioned Nebraska win and last weekend’s 65-50 home win over Northwestern, as they held both of those opponents under 40% FG and 30% 3PT. Illinois got a boost on Thursday when leading scorer, G Rayvonte Rice (16.4 PPG, 6.8 RPG) returned. Rice didn’t make a huge impact on the box score in his first game back since Jan. 3, but he played 27 minutes. Illini G Aaron Crosby (7.8 PPG 1.7 threes/gm) is still suspended indefinitely. Wisconsin G Traevon Jackson (ankle) (9.7 PPG, 2.7 APG) is still out indefinitely, as he has been for the past seven games.

Can the Badgers extend their lead atop the Big 10 standings with a win on Sunday? For the latest college basketball picks, check out The Platinum Sheet for all the StatFox Experts selections every week throughout the entire 2013-14 season. The experts have been heating up since Dec. 23, combining for a 56% ATS mark (102-81-3) in college basketball Best Bets. StatFox Gary is a strong 63% ATS (24-14) during this timeframe to improve to 62% ATS (42-26) for the season. StatFox Zach is on a 60% ATS (18-12) Best Bets run since Jan. 1 and has a 56% ATS mark (38-30) this season, while StatFox Brian is 61% ATS (20-13-1) in Best Bets since Dec. 28 to put him at 55% ATS (37-30-1) this season. StatFox Scott is a strong 59% ATS (20-14-1) in Best Bets since Dec. 23.

Don’t look now, but Illinois is making a serious postseason push and has a modest four-game win streak going (3-1 ATS). Incorporating team-leader, Rice, back into the fold after they’ve been so successful without him obviously is something that Coach John Croce would deem a “good” problem to have. G Malcolm Hill (14.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG) was a main beneficiary of having to lead by example with Rice down. Hill expanded his game, hitting a career-high four threes in a game three separate times in the nine games that Rice missed (his previous career high was two in a game). Hill struggled, however, with Rice’s return on Thursday, only mustering 11 points on 4-16 from the field. One player who was able to keep his game clicking on all cylinders on Thursday was G Kendrick Nunn (11.8 PPG, 42% 3PT), as Nunn led the Illini with 21 points while hitting the overtime-forcing three with a minute left in regulation. With the suspended Crosby’s future in question, Nunn has taken the starting off-guard role by the horns and doesn’t show any signs of relinquishing it. G Ahmad Starks (7.8 PPG, 2.6 APG) is equally comfortable starting (when the Illini go small) or coming off the bench – as he did on Thursday to the tune of 12 points and four assists in 36 minutes. C Egwu, as mentioned earlier, is an x-factor for Illinois, and will be especially needed to continue his strong play against the versatile frontline of the Badgers. Egwu hasn’t fouled out of a game since the calendar flipped to 2015 (11 games) and is coming off a season-high 12 rebounds on Thursday night. The pace of this game (Wisconsin plays the seventh -slowest pace in the nation and Illinois hasn’t exceeded 63 possessions in six games) should be very predictable, and will be a true test of whether the Illini’s recent defensive success on a points-per-possession basis (.89 points allowed-per-poss, last four games) is for real. Wisconsin leads the nation with 1.26 points per-possession scored in conference play.

The book on Wisconsin is the same as it’s ever been: Bo Ryan’s teams play slow, yet insanely effective (see above points-per-possession stats). Their first-string point guard gets injured; doesn’t matter, they’ll still lead the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (1.93) in conference play with their backup (G Bronson Koenig, 7.2 PPG; 12.7 PPG, 52% 3PT in seven games as the starter). The fastest game they’ve played in conference was 64 possessions, and when “sped up” past their comfort zone of 58 possessions-per-game all they did was hang 92 points on Indiana on 60% FG and 54% FT. Wisconsin’s bend-don’t-break defense has scoring numbers largely boosted by the slow pace the Badgers play (60.6 PPG allowed, tie 1st Big Ten; 45% FG allowed, only 13th Big Ten). All signs point to another grind-it-out affair in Madison. The cast of characters leading the Badgers is a familiar one: C Frank Kaminsky (17.3 PPG, 8.3 RPG, 54% FG) leads the charge. Kaminsky is so unique because he never fails to make his imprint on the game or the box score. For instance, he struggled (by his standards) scoring against Nebraska on Tuesday (13 points, 4-9 FG), but still added 12 rebounds, three blocks, and a game-high four assists. Consistency is the one issue that’s always bugged uber-talented F Sam Dekker (13.2 PPG, 5.3 RPG, 52% FG), but Dekker is putting together the best stretch of basketball in his career during conference play, as he’s averaged 15 points per game over his past eight, never failing to score in double figures in that period. Dekker led the Badgers with 21 points (8-for-13 FG) in the win over Nebraska. F Nigel Hayes (12.3 PPG, 6.3 RPG, 53% FG) has struggled from the field over his last two games (2-for-8 FG, 0-for-6 3PT at Nebraska) but also doesn’t need to score from the field to help the Badgers, as he’s gone 20-for-24 from the charity stripe over his last three games.