MADISON, Wis. - Trevon Hughes scored 22 points and Brian Butch added 16 as No. 21 Wisconsin beat Illinois 70-60 on Thursday night to give the Illini their first four-game losing streak under coach Bruce Weber.

Wisconsin's Trevon Hughes, center, shoots between Illinois' Brian Randle, left, and Rodney Alexander during the second half of a basketball game Thursday, Jan. 10, 2008, in Madison, Wis. Hughes had a game-high 22 points in Wisconsin's 70-60 win. (AP Photo/Andy Manis)

The Illini (8-8, 0-3 Big Ten), the only conference team to beat Wisconsin (13-2, 3-0) in the Kohl Center under coach Bo Ryan, managed to hang around for much of the game.

They grabbed 13 offensive rebounds while limiting Wisconsin to just four and shoot well from behind the 3-point line, a rarity for Illinois.

But the Badgers were finally able to take charge midway through the second half. Calvin Brock brought the Illini within 44-41 with just under 10 minutes to go before Wisconsin responded with consecutive 3-pointers from Jason Bohannon and Hughes. That sparked a 16-5 run over the next five minutes that put Wisconsin up 60-46, and Illinois wouldn't threaten again.

Hughes had five assists and six steals.

The Badgers shot (48 percent), committed just nine turnovers and shot better than 72 percent from the free throw line, above their season average of 67 percent. But they were outrebounded 35-25, and allowed Illinois to score 12 second-chance points.

Brock and Trent Meacham both had 14 points for Illinois, with Meacham hitting 4-of-5 from behind the 3-point arc. Illinois was 6-of-10 overall from 3-point range after coming into the game shooting just 28 percent.

When the Illini found their stroke from the outside, their post presence all but disappeared because of foul trouble. Shaun Pruitt was limited to 25 minutes and scored nine points, while Brian Randle scored four points and fouled out. The two combined to shoot 5-of-15 from the field and grabbed nine rebounds.

Randle had one particularly painful sequence on four straight Illinois possessions in which he missed an uncontested dunk, failed to convert a three-point play, jammed a second dunk attempt between the rim and backboard, and then had a third dunk attempt blocked by Greg Stiemsma.

Illinois travels to No. 11 Indiana on Sunday as part of a stretch in which it plays five of seven games on the road.