MADISON, Wis. – Johnny Davis and Tyler Wahl evidently had enough of letting their border rival hang around.
Failing to separate on several occasions from Minnesota, Davis brought his shot-making offense and Wahl delivered his stifling defense down the stretch to propel No.11 Wisconsin to a 66-60 victory over the Gophers Sunday at the Kohl Center.
Four players reached double figures for the Badgers (17-3, 8-2 Big Ten), as they remain in first place in the conference at the midway point of the season. Considering how uneven the Badgers have played on both ends of the floor the past three games, it’s a good place to be.
Wisconsin led by as many as 10 points in the second half but never could firmly put away Minnesota (11-7, 2-7) and guard Payton Willis. Willis led the Gophers with 17 points, including 15 in the second half to help spark multiple Minnesota runs when the Badgers tried to run away with momentum.
Jamison Battle added 14 and E.J. Stephens had 10, including the latter hitting a pair of free throws with 2:23 to go that tied the game at 60. That’s when Davis took over on offense by scoring the game’s final six points, including extending a possession with an offensive rebound that bled precious time off the clock and ended with him making a free throw.
While Wahl scored 15 points, the junior’s defense was the bigger standout. He forced a tough 3-point shot on Willis after Davis gave UW the lead and prevented Stephens from getting a clean shooting window in the lane a possession later.
Minnesota trailed by three and decided against fouling with a 16-second difference between the shot clock and the game clock. Davis made that decision backfire when he hit a jumper over Willis with 23.4 seconds left that sealed the win.
An afternoon start was a sleepy one for both teams, but the latter part of the first half turned into a game of runs. UW asserted itself first on a 10-2 run to build the game’s first double-digit lead. The Gophers countered with a 9-0 run to cut the lead to one, only to have the Badgers close the half on a 10-4 run.
In leading 32-25 at halftime, Wisconsin held Minnesota to 38.5 percent from the field, allowing only one made 3-pointer and four trips to the free-throw line.
The Gophers ended up shooting 48.1 percent in the second half to finish at 43.4 percent for the game. UW shot 42.4 percent.
What it means: Wisconsin closed the first half of the Big Ten season in a tie for first place and are two wins away from matching last year’s conference win total. The victory won’t do much for UW’s NET ranking and postseason resume, but it will add to UW’s dominance over the Gophers. UW has won 12 of the last 14 in the series.
Star of the game: Davis’s offense hasn’t been as eye-popping as it was earlier in the season, but the All-American candidate did what they are supposed to do, which is carry a team during crunch time. In addition to his points, Davis had a career-high 15 rebounds and committed only one turnover.
Stat of the game: Minnesota entered the game sixth in the country in turnovers (9.4 per game) and has had six games in which they committed five or fewer. Minnesota had five by the midway point of the first half and had 11 for the game. Those miscues turned into 13 points for Wisconsin.
Turning point: Davis’s left-handed layup through traffic that gave the Badgers a 62-60 lead with 2:10 remaining. UW hadn’t made a field goal since the 6:18 mark, and Davis hadn’t scored since the 17:03 mark of the half, but his finish through contact put Wisconsin ahead for good.
Don’t overlook: Steven Crowl’s 11 points (4-for-6), four rebounds, two assists and one turnover in 31 minutes on the floor. Wisconsin outscored Minnesota by 13 points when Crowl was on the floor, the only player who had a plus/ minus over 10 points. Crowl has now scored at least nine points in seven straight Big Ten games.
What’s next: The Badgers begin the second half of the conference season Wednesday with, arguably, their biggest game of the season in a road test against Illinois (15-5, 8-2) in Champaign. After giving up 80 points in consecutive losses, the Illini have won the last two games playing in the mid-50s. Big Ten preseason player of the year Kofi Cockburn leads Illinois in points (21.1) and rebounds (11.6) but has depth at guard with Alfonso Plummer (15.6), Trent Frazier (13.1), Jacob Grandison (10.7), and Andre Curbelo (10.2). This is the only regular-season meeting between the two programs.
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