A quick study of the final box score from the University of Wisconsin’s 65-41 victory over No.24 Virginia Monday accurately reflects what transpired at Suncoast Credit Union Arena. Point blank: the Badgers dominated the first semifinal of the Fort Myers Tip-Off.

UW’s defense, which had varied from uneven to atrocious through the first four games of the season, finally clicked to stifle a Virginia team that usually does the suppressing. That performance bled into the offense, which took advantage of a distinct size advantage to own the rebounding battle and saw that success bleed into scoring from all three levels.

Combining all those factors gave the Badgers their biggest win over a ranked opponent since December 2020 and their biggest margin away from home since March 2014.

“Finish has been the word for us since last year,” forward Steven Crowl said.” We didn’t finish games. Coming into this year, we started a little on and off, but the word has been ‘finish’ for us and he’s been on us about that.”

Here are my takeaways from game number one in the Sunshine State.

A 78-68 victory over Robert Morris Friday didn’t exactly jump off the page, but head coach Greg Gard believed the performance was closer to what the Badgers were searching for defensively. After getting punished in the paint by No.9 Tennessee and embarrassed in all areas on the road by Providence, UW allowed 24 three-pointers but bottled things in the lane and dominated the paint.

On Monday, UW put both things together. The Badgers had its best defensive first half of the season when it held Virginia to 18 points on 23.8 percent shooting from the floor. The Cavaliers had as many turnovers as field goals (five) and didn’t have a single player make multiple field goals in the opening 20 minutes.

UW failed to find its own offensive rhythm, shooting just 30.3 percent, but the Badgers held a 10-point halftime lead because Virginia could only scratch out 18 points.

The Cavs were marginally better in the second half at 40 percent but were just 2-for-7 from three-point range and attempted only one free throw. Entering play ranked 37th nationally in adjusted offensive efficiency by kenpom, UVA averaged .692 points per possession in the first half and .885 in the second half.

“It’s been a long time coming,” Gard said. “I thought, even through the last couple games, we were getting better. There were signs. Positioning was better. Tonight, a really good team, and the guys locked in. Scout team did a great job with preparation and our regular guys in the rotation followed the plan and stuck to it.”

Milwaukee native Reece Beekman is Virginia’s only returning starter for the Cavs from last season’s ACC regular-season champion and he finished with a game-high 17 points. UW limited Virginia’s contributors to 9-for-34 (26.5 percent) and leading-scorer Ryan Dunn (10.8 ppg) to six.

The 41 points are the fewest allowed since holding Green Bay to 34 in November 2021 and the fewest to a major conference opponent since limiting Marquette to 38 in December 2014.

UW didn’t string together much offense in the first half, but the Badgers beginning the game with a 10-4 run set the tone for how it was going to operate: be aggressive attacking the rim and let the offense flow from that.

The shots didn’t fall consistently in the first half but they certainly did after halftime. UW started by hitting 10 of 13 shots and went 13 of 16 during a stretch to blow the game open. On that latter stretch, UW went 9-for-10 on shots at the rim or in the paint and 4-for-4 on three-point shots.

The Cavaliers were 11th nationally in adjusted defensive efficiency by kenpom entering the game, holding their first four opponents to a combined 33.5 percent shooting, 24.7 percent perimeter shooting, and 51.0 points per game. Wisconsin shot 51.7 percent in the second half and 40.3 percent overall. UW averaged 1.423 points per possession in the second half in which it scored on 61.5 percent of its possessions and made a season-high eight three-pointers on 18 attempts.

Crowl was the biggest benefactor with his fifth career double-double but multiple players delivered. Tyler Wahl struggled around the rim early but went 4-for-7 in the second half and was responsible for seven of UW’s 20 offensive rebounds. The extra possessions allowed UW to attempt 16 more shots than Virginia and finish with a 12-5 edge in second-chance points.

Max Klesmit’s nine points were his most since the opener while freshman John Blackwell scored 10 points to give him his fourth double-digit game of the season.

After being a part of a group that gave Wisconsin some better defensive possessions on Friday, Kamari McGee saw another 14 minutes on the floor. The Badgers outscored Virginia by 19 with him on the floor, the best plus-minus ratio of the team. After playing a combined three minutes against Tennessee and Providence, McGee has shown he’s another option off Wisconsin’s bench.

Six days after his head coach, in not so many words, called him soft, Crowl showed he’s tired of pussyfooting around. After scoring 16 points on 7-for-9 Friday, Crowl led UW with 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting. He started the game with a dunk and scored nine of UW’s 28 first-half points. He was a key factor in UW’s pick-and-roll game, keeping the ball moving and getting it inside against an undersized roster.

“Honestly, whoever it was, we just wanted to get down there,” Crowl said of the low block. “We knew we were going to have to make the right play, make the smart play out of it.”

He also sparked Wisconsin’s decisive run. After Beekman converted a three-point play to cut Wisconsin’s lead to 40-35 with 12:54 remaining, Crowl checked back into the game and spun in the lane for a hook shot to make the lead 42-35. He delivered a block on the other end and attacked the right post again. He missed the shot, but Carter Gilmore crashed the glass unchecked and delivered a one-handed slam for the putback.

When Crowl delivered a two-handed slam off a pick-and-roll feed from Hepburn two minutes later, the Badgers were up 51-35 with 9:35 remaining.

“Coaches have been on me about having a dominant mindset,” Crowl said. “I think they’ve done a good job of being on me about that. I think as a team we need to start a little faster. We didn’t do that the past couple games. I think we did a great job today.”

Six - Chucky Hepburn shot a season-worst 12.5 percent from the field, only making a three-point shot of his eight attempts. However, the junior guard found plenty of praise heaped on his shoulders thanks to finishing with a game-high six assists and zero turnovers in 30 minutes.

“Some of the stuff he does doesn’t show up on the box score,” Crowl said, “but just him commanding the ball and just being the presence he is is huge for us.”

50.9 – Wisconsin only had 55 possessions but came away with points on 28 of them.

22 – Bench points from the Badgers, led by Blackwell’s 10 and getting four from Gilmore and three a piece from Nolan Winter and McGee.

41 – The fewest points Wisconsin has ever given up against an AP Top 25 team.

48-21 – Wisconsin’s edge on the boards, leading to a 30-14 scoring advantage in the paint.

24 - UW's largest margin of victory over a ranked team away from home since a 72-48 win at No. 23 Ohio State on March 8, 2015.

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