The Wisconsin Badgers (2-1) opened up the game with a 7-0 run and never looked back, leading wire-to-wire in a 78-64 victory over visiting North Dakota (1-1).
However, don’t let the 14-point margin of victory fool you, there was plenty of ugly to go along with the big scoreline.
Just how ugly was it at times?
For example, North Dakota turned the ball over 17 times, while the Badgers could only manage 14 points off those turnovers.
In large part though, the ugliness for Wisconsin was because of the lack of shooting from anyone not named Ethan Happ in the first half.
Wisconsin shot just 44 percent from the field on the night, and continued to struggle from outside as well (30 percent). However, Happ carried this team when others were struggling to find their form.
He set the tone, but it was a true team effort offensively as all five starters finished in double figures. Happ paced the way with 17 points, but he wasn’t the only one with a career night.
Junior guard Zak Showalter finished with a career-best 10 points, while UW got big efforts from Vitto Brown (12), Nigel Hayes (11) and Bronson Koenig (17) as all five starters finished in double figures.
Junior forward Nigel Hayes’ shooting issues continued in this matchup, as he had just two of his 11 points in the first half and shot just 4 of 13 from the field for the game.
However, the big man showed up big in other areas when he shot wasn’t falling. He contributed six rebounds and had a team-high seven assists to showcase an all-around game.
UW started the game off hot, going on that 7-0 run to open the contest and doubling up UND more than once during the first half. However, Wisconsin’s players seemed to loose their legs as the half went on and it showed on the stat sheet.
Wisconsin shot just 37 percent from the field in the half (14 of 38), and it was the sheer volume of shots taken that mattered most, as North Dakota shot 40 percent from the field in the half.
Despite having a 7-footer on the roster, the Badgers also dominated the boards in this one. UW held a 26-17 advantage at the half and that margin stayed true to the end, as the Badgers had a 40-31 advantage on the boards for the game.
Halftime gave the Badgers a boost though, as UW came out much more willing to work the ball inside instead of settling for long jump shots.
It didn’t hurt that Hayes was the catalyst for this movement either, and once he began to take defenders to the hoop other options opened up for the Badgers.
No one took more advantage of that than his partner in crime — Bronson Koenig. He was the only Badger to hit more than one three-pointer on the night, going 3 of 6 from deep and adding five boards and four assists.
The final of three games in five days finished stronger than it started for the Badgers, pulling out to a 26-point lead late in the second half and allowing the bench to clear out in the final few minutes.
Wisconsin will take on Georgetown as part of the 2K Classic in New York on Friday afternoon at 4pm CT on ESPN2.
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