MADISON, Wis. – Steven Crowl and Tyler Wahl got the incredibly blunt message delivered to them.

Getting called about by head coach Greg Gard 72 hours earlier, Wisconsin’s starting forwards took the fight to Robert Morris in the low post to set the foundation for a 78-68 victory in a sparsely populated Kohl Center Friday.

Wahl scored a season-high 18 points while Crowl followed close behind with 16 for Wisconsin (2-2), which had to work deep into the second half before it built a double-digit lead.

Freshman John Blackwell matched Wahl with a career-high 18 points off the bench as the Badgers shot 61.1 percent in the second half and 51.1 overall.

The Colonials (1-4) put four players in double figures and went 13-for-29 from three-point range in the first meeting between the two programs.

Following Tuesday’s 72-59 loss at Providence, a night where UW went 7-for-20 on shots around the rim, Gard used the word “finish” eight times in a 55-word answer in reference to what Crowl and Wahl needed to do better around the rim.

The duo was active from the beginning. The first five possessions touched the post and resulted in points at the rim or free-throw attempts. The formula provided the boost offensively, as UW was 8 of 11 from the field to start and didn’t attempt its first perimeter shot until the 8:18 mark.

Wahl – who became the 48th player in school history to reach 1,000 career points – delivered one of the biggest plays of the night with a thunderous dunk off the dribble with 9:27 remaining. It capped a 6-0 run for the Badgers, a modest spurt but one that represented points on three consecutive possessions for the first time since the midpoint of the first half.

Robert Morris committed 10 turnovers and was whistled for 16 fouls in the opening half but went 7 of 15 from three to trail 37-35 at the break.

Entering the night shooting 31.7 percent from the perimeter, the Colonials’ 10th three-pointer answered Wisconsin’s first with 11:49 remaining, locking the score at 48.

While the Colonials answered with a three-pointer after Wahl’s dunk, the Badgers scored 12 points on the next four possessions and maintained a lead of at least seven points down the stretch.

What it means: Wisconsin avoided its first three-game November losing streak since 2017 by overwhelming a diminutive roster that shot the lights out from the perimeter. The win won’t be highlighted on the resume, but a loss would have been devasting from a resume and psyche standpoint.

Star of the game: Wahl was a perfect 5-for-5 from the floor and improved to 6-for-10 from the line after missing two of his first three. While committing a team-high three turnovers, his point total was a season-high, and his dribble drive and dunk finish injected some energy into a sleepy building.

Stat of the game: On a night where Robert Morris dominated the perimeter, the Badgers helped neutralize that disadvantage by outscoring the Colonials, 42-16, in the paint.

Reason to be Concerned: The health of Connor Essegian. Since suffering an upper-body injury in the opener, Essegian has played 11, six, and now seven minutes, not checking in during the second half. He finished 0-for-1 from the floor Friday with a team-worst minus-6 in the plus/minus category. For the season, the sophomore is 3-for-9 shooting, including 0-for-3 from the perimeter.

Don’t overlook: The impact of Blackwell. Emerging as UW’s top option off the bench for his energy and shot selection, Blackwell was the ignitor in the second half by scoring all his points, including eight on three straight possessions to grow the lead to 12 with 5:22 remaining.

What’s next: Wisconsin heads to Ft. Myers, Fla., for the Fort Myers Tip-Off to open play against Virginia Monday night (5 p.m./FS1). The Cavaliers (4-0) have played the 87th-hardest schedule in the country thus far but did defeat Florida, 73-70, in Charlotte on November 10. Ranked just outside the AP Top 25, the Cavs’ top five players average between 10.8 and 9.5 ppg. Virginia leads the all-time series with Wisconsin, 4-2, and is 2-1 in neutral sites, including a 53-46 victory in the last meeting in the 2018 Battle 4 Atlantis.

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