Richmond's return sparks Illini

The Illini showed they are a different team when Richmond is A) on the court and B) playing with abandon. The first one is most important, of course, as Illinois (14-5, 4-2 Big Ten) learned in a loss Saturday at Wisconsin. Richmond didn't play at Madison, and the Illini missed his aggression.

"It wasn't really much to it," Richmond said of missing two practices that led to his benching. "I just had to go home and touch base with my family for a short period of time. My teammates and coaches did a good job of supporting me. I wanted to come back with better focus."

Klee