Wisconsin basketball's Steven Crowl drops blunt take to beating 'sick' Illinois
02/19/2025 11:02 AM
Wins come in all shapes and sizes, and Wisconsin basketball forward Steven Crowl echoed that sentiment following a win against Illinois. While the Fighting Illini were missing some of their key players, it didn’t phase the Badgers. Throughout the season, Wisconsin basketball has had other programs shaking their heads in amazement.
That’s the standard for the program and Crowl. Following the game, he explained via Zach Heilprin of The Zone how it doesn’t matter who they play. The expectation will be the same.
"I don't think it really matters whether they were sick or healthy, we were going to handle business,” Crowl said. “We're a different team now. We showed that tonight."
The 95-74 win in Wisconsin basketball’s home arena showed how dominant they are. Crowl himself scored 20 points, along with seven rebounds and five assists. Meanwhile, guard John Tonje posted a 31-point outburst in the lopsided win. Still, the Big 10 has plenty of competition this season.
Michigan, Michigan State, Purdue, and Maryland are currently in the Top 25. With that being said, the Badgers sit at 11th in the AP poll, the highest ranking out of any Big Ten school. The dominant win shows that it’s anyone’s conference to win. As Crowl said, the team went in and took care of business.
Steven Crowl echoes Wisconsin basketball’s sentiment vs Illinois
The Badgers have had a remarkable season, to say the least. One of their signature wins was against Arizona. While it was early in the season, plenty thought it was a fluke. Funny enough, Tonje dropped a 40-point performance that Wisconsin basketball hadn’t seen in years.
The balance within the team has been impressive. Not to mention, they’ve made serious work of Big Ten competition. They defeated Purdue, which was another signature win. Although the Boilermakers haven’t been as dominant as they have in seasons past, it doesn’t discredit the win.
Going back to Crowl’s point, though, a win is a win. Even if Illinois was missing a barrage of players, they did exactly what great teams do. They took care of business.
Either way, they have five regular season games remaining. Two of them are against Michigan and Michigan State, who are both ranked as of writing this. The Badgers will have their work cut out for them. However, their 11-4 record in conference play is one they would like to grow.
After Michigan and Michigan State have a better in-conference record than Wisconsin basketball. Crowl’s sentiment about taking care of business will likely be the mantra of the program for the remainder of the season.
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