MADISON, Wis. After adding multiple hard-fought wins to its resume throughout November, Wisconsin basketball padded its stats with one of its easier ones.

Building a lead without playing its best early and extending it once the offense started hitting shots, No.15 Wisconsin cruised to a 74-53 victory over winless Chicago State at the Kohl Center.

Senior John Tonje scored 22 points to lead all scorers, his fourth game of at least 20 points this year, and the Badgers never trailed as they moved to 8-0 for the first time in 11 seasons.

Nolan Winter (12 points) also reached double figures for Wisconsin, which jumps back into challenging competition when it opens conference play at home Tuesday against Michigan.

“I think we’re all excited to finally play some bigger-named teams, some Big Ten teams,” said senior Steven Crowl, who flirted with a triple-double before finishing with nine points, seven rebounds, and five assists. “Michigan is coming off a championship in Fort Myers, so they are going to come in here hungry.”

Here are my takeaways from the Kohl Center.

It’s hard to fault Wisconsin for a lack of pop in the first half. The Badgers were coming off a six-day holiday break after playing four challenging games in nine days and playing a winless team losing games by an average of 25 points. Add the fact that UW has four challenging games coming up (three coming away from home) and it’s understandable the Badgers weren’t fully engaged.

UW’s offense averaged only .914 points per possession in the first half, shooting less than 40 percent in the opening half for the second straight game (38.7) and not connecting from the perimeter (3-for-16) or generating looks from the foul line (5-for-6).

Chicago State (0-9) entered the weekend ranked 348th nationally in scoring 59.1 ppg), 354th in shooting (34.4), and 301st in perimeter shooting (29.7), but created enough issues with dribble handoffs and penetration to the rim. The score would have been tighter had the Cougars not gone 5-for-13 on layups.

“In the locker room, we really got on one another,” Winter said. “Not really yelled at each other but there was a lot of leadership in the locker room, mainly on the defensive side. We knew we were better than that.”

UW’s offense was efficient in the second half scoring 42 points and averaging 1.448 points per possession. The Badgers’ post touches opened opportunities at the free-throw line (13-for-15) and kickouts to open three-point shooters. Unlike the first half when those shots didn’t fall (3-for-16), the Badgers went 7-for-14 from the arc to help them build a lead as big as 24 points.

“Of the 16 threes (in the first half), 14 were really good shots,” head coach Greg Gard said. “If you shot 10 or shot 30, they aren’t all going to be perfect but when you have 14 of 16 that you’d take and the people who took them are the ones you want taking your threes, you withstand that.”

Wisconsin kept the turnovers down (eight in 65 possessions), shared the ball well (17 assists on 23 baskets), and held an opponent to .841 points per possession. Doing those things well can help the Badgers weather slow shooting stretches.

“We know we’re a good shooting team, and we’re going to keep letting them go early and often,” said Winter, who had 10 points on a 22-5 run that gave the Badgers a 53-32 lead with 10:11 remaining.

“We know what we can do offensively. Some days they don’t drop and you have to figure out different ways to score, get to the line, get the ball in the paint to Big Steve (Crowl). Sometimes they are not falling, and you got to lock in on your defense.”

Camren Hunter checked in with 24.5 seconds remaining in the first half, brought in to help the Badgers utilize their two fouls to give. It was the first time Hunter had appeared in the first half of a UW game this season, and the junior executed his directive of providing resistance and fouling to help take time off the clock.

Appearing at the end of the game, Hunter’s 1 minute, 36 seconds on the court was more than he had played the entire season.

Hunter has struggled to find a footing in the rotation since transferring from Central Arkansas. He was ruled out for the season opener, played mop-up time at the end of UW’s wins over Arizona and Appalachian State, and didn’t travel to West Virginia for the Greenbrier Tip-Off.

“He has missed so much time,” Gard said. “He’s still battling some illness. For him it’s just a matter of consistently practicing, be able to stack days together there, and be ready.”

There was thought that Hunter could transition into Wisconsin’s starting point guard role this season. While he didn’t play last year after suffering a foot injury, Hunter averaged 16.9 points, 5.0 rebounds, 3.9 assists and 1.5 steals as a sophomore.

“We got a really solid nine that have really established themselves, but you never know,” Gard said. “It’s a long season. We’re not even a quarterway through it … He’s got to try to stay as healthy as he can.”

The early surge in the second half allowed Gard to give more players longer stretches on the court. In addition to Hunter, Wisconsin got productive bench minutes from Jack Janicki (3 points, 5 rebounds), Xavier Amos (eight points), and Riccardo Greppi (three points, two rebounds) in the second half.

“Greppi was aggressive, got to the foul line, and was really playing with a lot of joy,” Gard said. “I always remind guys no matter if you’re getting 20 seconds or 39 minutes, make the most of it because they all add up.”

Point guard Daniel Freitag played a season-high 4:48 and finished with an assist, a steal, and an offensive rebound. Markus Ilver was denied on a dunk but hit a three-pointer late for his first points since the Appalachian State game.

Five reserves scored for Wisconsin and three others contributed at least a rebound.

2.3 – After hitting 10 three-pointers against Chicago State, Wisconsin ranks fifth in the Big Ten averaging 9.4 3FGs per game season, an increase from last season's mark of 7.1 per game.

4 – Wisconsin has been 8-0 four times in the NCAA Tournament Era (1985-86, 1993-94, 2013-14).

4 – Tonje is one of 4 players in the Big Ten with four 20-point efforts on the year, joining Dylan Harper (Rutgers), Nick Martinelli (Northwestern), and Dawson Garcia (Minnesota).

9 - Saturday marked Crowl's ninth career game with 5+ assists and the fifth time he has posted at least five rebounds and five assists.

29.9 - UW held Chicago State to 6-for-24 from 3-point range. On the year, Badger opponents are shooting 29.9 percent (58-194) from behind the arc.

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