Wisconsin went to Rutgers and dropped the most shocking game of the 2014-15 Big Ten season last year. That was not going to happen in the Kohl Center, and the Badgers took care of revenge with a 79-57 victory.
It moved the Badgers to 2-1 under the direction of Greg Gard, but was just the first Big Ten victory for the interim head coach.
Leading the way was junior guard Zak Showalter, who put up a career high 21 points and was perfect from the field (8-8 and 4-4 from three-point range).
He wasn’t the only headliner though, as freshman forward Ethan Happ put up another double double (16 points, 10 rebounds). It was his Big Ten-leading fifth double-double of the year.
Those two were joined in double figures by point guard Bronson Koenig, who put up 14 points to go with four assists in the win.
The young Badgers showed great maturity during the first half, as they went on multiple runs and responded positively to every Rutgers run to try and make this a game.
Wisconsin twice led by as many as 10 points, and it all started with an early response to Rutgers taking a 4-3 lead. The Badgers responded immediately, going on a 7-0 run to lead by 10-4 with 15:44 to play in the first half.
Junior point guard Bronson Koenig came in struggling from the field, but he was vital in getting the Badgers offense going early on in this one. He had five of Wisconsin’s seven points in its first major run of the game and finished with 14 points in the winning effort.
However, it wasn’t just Koenig or fellow star Nigel Hayes who were filling up the stat sheet. Rather it was the supporting cast getting it done. Hayes had just two points in the first half, taking just two shots, but adding five rebounds.
The rest of the starters poured in a combined 23 points in the first half and UW got 10 points off the bench as well en route to a 42-31 halftime advantage.
Showalter came to play with energy and offensive production rolled in to one during the first half, often serving as the catalyst for the many Badgers’ run. He put up 10 of his 21 points in the opening stanza of this one.
His shooting added in with the rest of the supporting cast helped Wisconsin shoot 56 percent from the field (18-32) and from three-point range (5-9) as a team in the first half. Wisconsin finished the game shooting 53 percent from the field and 44 percent from three-point range.
Despite all of that, Rutgers didn’t give up at any point in the first half. In fact, it responded well to UW’s early run.
The Scarlet Knights responded to the 10-4 disadvantage by pulling the game even at 12-12 with an 8-2 run of its own. However, the Badgers quickly responded right back and a 9-0 run sparked by a three pointer and a tip-in bucket by Showalter.
Wisconsin was up 21-12 with 9:22 left to play in the first half, and it went in to cruise control mode from there on in the first half.
Rutgers attempted a few min-runs but were snuffed out every time by big buckets and defensive plays. After going up 21-12, Wisconsin only extended its lead by keeping pace with what Rutgers was doing in the scoring department and eeking out small advantages throughout the rest of the half.
Wisconsin was able to sustain its leads and push back on the Scarlet Knights in large part due to timely effort on the defensive end of the court though.
The Badgers ended the game with a 37-25 advantage in rebounding, including a crazy 21-8 advantage in the first half alone.
There weren’t many Rutgers turnovers, but the ones that were created turned in to positives for the Badgers, as UW turned four Rutgers’ turnovers in to 10 points in the first half alone.
It all helped the Badgers open up that 11 point advantage at the half.
That was a good thing, as the Badgers needed every bit of their first half advantage early on in the second half. UW came out ice cold to start the second half, putting up just one point in the first four-plus minutes and Rutgers closed the lead to 43-39 with 15:52 to play in the contest.
It didn’t get much better through the next few minutes either, as Wisconsin couldn’t buy a bucket from anyone that didn’t come at the free throw line.
#Badgers inconsistency at its finest. UW was 18-for-32 in the first half. They are 0-for-7 in the second half. Rutgers within four at 45-41.
— Benjamin Worgull (@TheBadgerNation) January 2, 2016
Who else but Showalter would remove the goose egg from the Badgers field goal shooting? He did it with a drive and harm, putting the Badgers up 48-41 with just over 12 minutes remaining in the game.
From there, Rutgers went cold and Wisconsin found its stroke from the field. It came as no coincidence that the offensive confidence came back as UW attacked the basket either.
After going 0-7 to start the half, the Badgers finished the second half shooting 14-20.
Wisconsin’s lead dwindled to 44-41 during the shooting drought, but clearly the offense woke up. It all happened following the lack of field goal shooting, going on a 15-2 run to open up its largest lead at 63-45 with 6:47 to play.
From that point forward Rutgers went in to scramble mode and it produced an 8-0 run of its own.
In a repeat of the first half, the Badgers simply wouldn’t let a run get too out of hand and slammed the door shut with back-to-back buckets for a 69-53 lead.
UW never looked back and avenged a loss that took place at Rutgers last season. It was a great confidence builder, and the Badgers are going to need it coming up.
The Badgers will take on Indiana in Bloomington, Ind. next before a clash with Maryland later in the week. Wisconsin takes on the Hoosiers on Jan. 5 at 6p.m. CT with the game televised by ESPN.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
