MADISON – Marcus Domask and Terrence Shannon Jr. proved to be nearly unstoppable Saturday at the Kohl Center.

As a result, Wisconsin was unable to stop a late-season slide with a much-needed victory.

Domask, a graduate of Waupun High School who transferred to Illinois after four seasons at Southern Illinois, scored from inside and outside and finished with a game-high 31 points.

Shannon added 23 to help the Illinois hold off UW, 91-83, on a day Howard Moore made his first public appearance since being injured in a tragic auto accident in 2019.

Box score: Illinois 91, Wisconsin 83

Domask (15.5 ppg) scored 13 in the opening half and never slowed down. A 26.9% three-point shooter, he hit 4 of 6 three-pointers and 12 of 21 shots overall.

"He had a great game today," said UW's Tyler Wahl, who drew the assignment of guarding Domask. "I gave him maybe a couple of easy baskets but for the most part he was hitting some tough shots, especially with the left hand. So, you’ve got to tip your hat to that."

Shannon (21.9 ppg, 47.7% shooting) was coming off a 29-point performance against Minnesota, his 13th game this season with at least 20 points. Shannon scored 14 in the first half Saturday. He hit 3 of 6 three-pointers and 8 of 9 free throws as the Illini were 24 of 30 from the line.

"They do it in different ways and they’re both efficient," Illinois coach Brad Underwood said. "The best thing is they’re great teammates and they share it."

Coleman Hawkins, averaging 14.6 points and shooting 40.7% from three-point range in league play, added 13 points and seven rebounds.

The change of the calendar to March from February did not help the Badgers (18-11, 10-8) who went 2-6 in February.

UW dropped back into a tie for fourth place in the Big Ten with Nebraska (20-9, 10-8). The Cornhuskers host Rutgers on Sunday.

Illinois (22-7, 13-5) extended its winning streak against UW to seven games.

Wahl led UW with 20 points and seven rebounds. Max Klesmit added 16, Chucky Hepburn 15 and AJ Storr 13. Storr hit just 4 of 12 shots, however.

"I thought Terrence did a terrific job on AJ," Underwood said, "kind of limiting his (looks)."

Steven Crowl was limited to 14 minutes because of foul trouble and finished with four points and four rebounds. John Blackwell added seven points before fouling out with 3 minutes 54 seconds left and UW down, 72-69.

Crowl's limited minutes hurt UW more on the offensive end because the plan was to use a smaller lineup defensively when the Illini played without center Dain Dainja. Crowl averages 11.2 points and 2.1 assists per game. He came in shooting 55.4%.

"He is a big factor in the post for us," Hepburn said. "We run our offense through him and Tyler. Not having him in the game hurt us a lot."

Lifted emotionally by a touching pregame ceremony for Moore, UW built a 14-5 lead 5:28 into the game.

The Illini eventually settled in, built a two-point halftime lead and then the teams spent much of the second half exchanging scoring runs.

Illini made the last and decisive push after Blackwell hit a three-pointer to forge a 68-68 tie with 5:44 left.

Domask drove for a basket against Wahl; Blackwell missed an open three-pointer; and Shannon drew a foul from Blackwell on a hard drive and hit two free throws for a 72-68 lead with 4:59 left.

After Hepburn hit 1 of 2 free throws, Domask scored four points and Shannon converted a three-point play in a 9-2 run to give the Illini an 81-71 lead with 2:13 left.

Game over.

When the time expired, Shannon found Domask and the two celebrated. It was clear this game meant a great deal to Domask.

Afterward, Gard lamented several issues that contributed to the loss:

Crowl getting into foul trouble and Blackwell fouling out were two.

UW had seven of its eight turnovers in the first half and the Illini scored 14 points off the early miscues.

"They’re not all live ball turnovers," he said. "But when you turn it over you’re not scoring. And you knew you had to score. This game wasn’t going to be 50-48."

UW several times failed to secure defensive rebounds, which led to either fouls or points for the Illini.

"We play good basketball at times but we’re inconsistent," Gard said. "Some of that is guys getting themselves in foul trouble. It is contributions off the bench.

"And when you get in the trenches of these type of fights, it exposes the grit that we need to continue to build and spread throughout everybody that steps on the floor."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Wisconsin falls to Illinois as Waupun's Marcus Domask scores 31 points