MADISON, Wis. – John Blackwell acknowledged that now the Wisconsin Badgers have “some hype” surrounding themselves. That comes with the territory of being undefeated, hanging 103 points on No.9 Arizona, and jumping up to No.19 in the national rankings. He also recognized that UT Rio Grande Valley was a tough matchup that would probably push them outside their comfort zone.

Without his efforts, the next few days would have been really uncomfortable for the Badgers.

Blackwell set a new career high with 30 points while he and Big Ten Player of the Week John Tonje scored 32 of Wisconsin’s 39 second-half points to eke out an 87-84 victory over the Vaqueros at the Kohl Center.

“Good teams find a way when things aren’t clicking and things become unorthodox, as it was tonight,” head coach Greg Gard said. “We’ll learn from it, keep getting better, and move on to the next one.”

Here are my takeaways from the Kohl Center.

Getting downhill into the paint, playing off two feet, and getting to the free-throw line were all things Tonje used to tear up Arizona’s defense. Three days later, Blackwell followed the same script, carrying Wisconsin in a second half where things were a struggle offensively.

UW started the half with four consecutive misses, but Blackwell converted the Badgers’ first four field goals, a mixture of paint jumpers and layups. Those were looks missing in the first half but started to appear once the Badgers had to go smaller to keep pace with UTRGV and, as a byproduct, started slipping more screens and creating more gaps and driving lanes.

Scoring 20 of his career-high 30 points in the second half, eight of Blackwell’s 11 second-half field goals came in the lane, the others coming on five free throws and a three-pointer from the top of the key that gave UW a 68-66 lead with 10:42 remaining.

“I just played in the flow of the game,” Blackwell said. “I just take what the defense gives me. If the scoring is there, I’ll take it. If I got to get it on to the next guy, I’ll do it.”

Blackwell added seven rebounds to become the first Badgers guard to tally 30 and 7 since Johnny Davis on Feb. 15, 2022, at Indiana. No rebound was bigger than the one he corralled in traffic with two seconds left and UW protecting a one-point lead.

“That’s how he got on the floor as a freshman was defending and rebounding and making good decisions with the ball,” Gard said. “The scoring came as he got more experience. For him, he doesn’t get rattled. I got after a little bit at halftime defensively. I thought he had some miscues, and I thought he was better in the second half and responded. The last rebound as the end was a grown man’s rebound.

“He has a DNA of making winning plays. He made several in the second half.”

Through five games, the Badgers have had three different 20+ point scorers.

Watching UTRGV on tape and seeing a smaller quicker lineup, Gard was preparing for the Badgers’ size advantage to potentially be neutralized if the Vaqueros got their offense clicking and confidence up. It happened almost immediately, confirming his worst fears.

After never trailing against then-No.9 Arizona Friday, Wisconsin appeared a step slow on both ends, especially defensively at the start. UTRGV started 6-for-10, and the Badgers never did enough early on to make the Vaqueros cool off. Over the first 27 possessions, UTRGV averaged 1.556 points per possession and shot 66.7 percent from the floor. The Badgers gave up scoring in transition, open looks at the rim, and weren’t getting out to perimeter shooters.

While some difficult shots were made, a good portion of the Vaqueros’ offense came from defensive breakdowns. It was a point the players made after Gard burned a timeout on the first possession after a media break when the Badgers gave up a corner three-pointer.

“There’s a lot of older guys, more experienced guys on this team,” Max Klesmit said. “(Gard) doesn’t have to get after guys in the huddle in the heat of the moment. We knew what we had to fix.”

The defensive breakdowns came to a head on the final possession of the half, when Xavier Amos was lackadaisical or passive in grabbing a loose ball, resulting in Hakim Abdul Hakim’s three-pointer and a four-point halftime deficit.

It wasn’t as if UTRGV didn’t have the credentials. The Vaqueros won their division of the Greenbrier Tip-Off on Saturday to win three consecutive games for the first time in nearly two years. They hit 14 three-pointers and put four players in double figures in a loss at Nebraska, a game that was within four with 7:30 to go. Four days later, they battled back from double-digit deficits and got as close as five points with two minutes to play before falling 99-86 at No.15 Creighton.

A short turnaround couldn’t be used as an excuse either, as the Vaqueros were playing their third game in four days.

“I didn’t think our perimeter was as physical and tight as it needed to be,” Gard said. “We made some mistakes that forced rotations and scrambles. Then they started banging some threes in and their confidence grows.”

The adjustment in the second half came from Wisconsin going smaller, rarely using starting forwards Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter and instead putting Tonje and Amos at the four and Carter Gilmore at the five.

Gard cited Gilmore’s experience as why Amos didn’t move over to the five, calling Gilmore “a valuable asset” as a mobile tweener forward with positive versatility.

“They’re playing small, so we need to be able to match it,” Gard said. “You don’t want to have to do that, but when you are playing from behind and trading baskets, I felt that if we could get out and get ahead of them, our size would become more of an advantage. They got out to a great start, so it put us in a position where we had to match what they were doing.”

Gilmore didn’t score, but he had four defensive rebounds, drew two fouls, and had a steal in 14+ minutes in the second half. The Badgers outscored UTRGV by seven with him on the floor.

“He brings experience, and he’s just tough,” Tonje said of Gilmore. “He understands and knows what Wisconsin basketball is all about. He’s willing to put himself on the line and do anything it takes to win. He’s a huge part of this team, a huge part of the culture.”

Kamari McGee didn’t score either in his 20 minutes on the court, but the senior had two assists to no turnovers, a steal, and provided the crucial defense on the second-to-last possession. Switching on to Abdul Hakim (team-high 17 points), and giving up eight inches in height, McGee held his ground on a couple of separation attempts from the elbow, forced him inside, and combined with Tonje to force a fadeaway jumper.

The results of going smaller worked in the end defensively, as UTRGV went 11-for-31 in the second half and saw its points per possession drop from 1.44 to 1.00.

Starting two 7-footers can be advantageous for Wisconsin, as not many teams can match the Badgers with their frontcourt height. However, UW saw that strength can be a liability against a smaller, quicker lineup with an undersized frontcourt.

UTRGV started a 6-4 guard at forward and a 6-8 forward at center, trying to flip UW’s advantage against them and spread the floor with flairs and curls to the rim. It won’t be the first team to try and do that to Wisconsin this season, which begs the question if UW can be better equipped to handle smaller lineups.

The answer, according to Gard, is partially dependent on the guards’ ability to help bail out the starting forwards. Gard rattled off five or six areas where the guards struggled, like getting back cut, hedging screens and not being more physical at the start with ball pressure.

“Our ability to keep the ball in front of us sometimes has gotten into us a little bit,” Klesmit said. “That’s something we know we have to be better in.”

It also didn’t help, according to Gard, that he felt Crowl and Winter got tentative when UTRGV started hitting three-pointers, making them react instead of playing instinctively.

“The biggest is not have those breakdowns where we have our fives and fours scrambling to cover dribble penetration,” Gard said. “Now we’re late getting out to a five or we’re coming out with our hands down, being more physical at the start and imposing our will better. The bigs have to continue to learn and get better in that regard, but our perimeter can do a better job.”

UW will probably work on it this week, as UCF and its lineup full of quick, high-scoring guards could prove challenging on Friday.

7:02 - Time in the game that Wisconsin led, never by more than five points

2 - Since 2004, Blackwell and Davis are the only Badgers underclassmen to score at least 30 points and grab seven rebounds in a game.

2004 - The Vaqueros haven't beaten a Power-Four school in 20 years, doing so when they were known as Texas Pan-American and winning by one at Baylor.

12 - Wisconsin turned 12 turnovers into 15 points Monday. The Badgers have forced double-digit turnovers in all five games this season.

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