Wisconsin’s offensive evolution has caught the attention of plenty of pundits across the college basketball landscape. They showed Monday they can still grind out a conference win with the best of them.
Getting critical plays down the stretch from a couple of savvy veterans, the Badgers emerged victorious from an old-school Big Ten grinder, to hold off Rutgers, 75-61, at Jersey Mike’s Arena in Piscataway, N.J.
Three nights after scoring a Kohl Center record 116 points and hitting a Big Ten record 21 three-pointers, Wisconsin (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) won on a night where it went 7-for-22 from three and didn’t attempt a free throw until 3:28 remaining. UW found other ways to get it done.
Steven Crowl had a team-high 18 points and 10 rebounds, including two critical tallies in both categories late in the second half. After Jamichael Davis’ layup with 7:50 remaining cut Wisconsin’s 16-point lead to three, Crowl cleaned up an errant John Blackwell shot for a layup. Two-and-a-half minutes later, Crowl delivered a putback dunk when Kamari McGee’s layup rolled off the rim to push the lead back to eight.
Blackwell scored 13 of his game-high 21 points in the first half, and John Tonje had 13 of his 15 points in the second half. This ham-and-egg performance prevented Rutgers (8-7, 1-3) from getting closer than three points in the second half.
Not only did the Badgers hold the Scarlet Knights to 34.2 percent shooting, but they also put the clamps on their two freshmen stars. Four days after scoring a career-high 39 points at Indiana, Ace Bailey had a season-low nine points on 3-for-16 shooting before fouling out. Dylan Harper (flu) played after missing Thursday’s loss at Indiana but was clearly less than 100 percent, finishing with no points on two shots in 15 minutes.
UW took advantage of Harper’s presence on the floor early by picking a part of Rutgers’ interior defense. Twenty of the Badgers’ first 24 points came in the paint, including 10 on the fast break as UW pushed pace thanks to Rutgers’ cold shooting. The Scarlet Knights missed 16 of their first 20 shots, including just 1-for-10 from three.
Even when Rutgers found an offensive rhythm with seven straight makes, the Scarlet Knights couldn’t build much momentum with Wisconsin making 10 consecutive attempts over a nine-minute stretch.
Tyson Acuff (17) was the only player in double figures for Rutgers, which lost at home for the first time in eight games this season.
What it means: Wisconsin hadn’t won a road game since Jan.23, 204, a streak of eight straight losses, and losing at Rutgers hasn’t come easy since the Scarlet Knights joined the Big Ten conference. Exercising those demons will make the flight home from the East Coast feel much better.
Star of the game: Not only did Crowl deliver with his scoring and rebounding, but his give-and-go with McGee gave the senior point guard a layup and pushed the lead back to 10 with 2:28 remaining. He added three assists and a steal to his double-double and finished +23.
Stat of the game: Making the same number of threes and free throws as Rutgers, the Badgers separated themselves by going 24-for-35 (68.6 percent) on twos compared to the Scarlet Knights going 18-for-47 (38.3).
Reason to be Concerned: Nolan Winter and Max Klesmit didn’t finish the game dealing with injuries, which occurred within seconds of each other. Winter was tossed to the court on a physical play at 10:08 that was ruled a common foul after review and didn’t play the final 7:37. Klesmit attempted a three-point shot after the whistle blew but came down on Jeremiah Williams’ foot after the Rutgers guard contested. Klesmit stayed down on the court in pain and walked gingerly to the locker room. He returned to the bench and tried to get loose but didn’t return. Klesmit hasn’t missed a start since arriving at UW (84 games) and while he’s been in a season-long shooting slump, he leads the team in assists (45) and steals (17).
Don’t overlook: McGee (6 points, +6), Carter Gilmore (3 points, +6), and Xavier Amos (4 points, +1) all delivered off the bench as Wisconsin dealt with injuries.
What’s next: The Badgers return home Friday for the first of two meetings against border rival Minnesota. The only winless team in the Big Ten entering the week, the Gophers (8-6, 0-3) have been decent defensively, ranking fourth in the league in scoring defense (65.07) but rank last in the conference in scoring, field goal percentage, and free throw shooting. Fifth-year senior Dawson Garcia continues to be the Gophers’ best player at 19.1 points and 7.2 rebounds per game, having scored at least 18 points in six straight games.
UW has won seven straight games in the series. The tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and will be televised on Peacock.
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