3 things that stood out from Wisconsin men’s basketball’s 4th straight victory

PISCATAWAY, N.J. — The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team looked firmly in control. Then it did not. But the Badgers did just enough to hold off a Rutgers team that nearly scrapped its way to a victory on its home floor.

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In an ugly game, Wisconsin topped the Scarlet Knights 75-63 Monday night at Jersey Mike’s Arena. After posting the best offensive performance in the history of the Kohl Center on Friday against Iowa, the Badgers shot just 31.8% from 3 and turned the ball over 16 times, sacrificing 18 offensive rebounds to Rutgers.

But in a game where Wisconsin (12-3, 2-2 Big Ten) lost both sophomore forward Nolan Winter and senior guard Max Klesmit to second-half injuries, it did just enough to pull out its second Big Ten victory, holding Rutgers freshmen stars Ace Bailey and Dylan Harper (who played just 15 minutes and scored zero points after missing the Scarlet Knights’ previous game due to an illness) to nine points on 3-of-18 shooting from the floor. The defense and 62.8% shooting from inside the arc picked up a fourth consecutive win for Wisconsin, the solid finish coming on the same court the Badgers picked up a fourth straight loss last season.

“As it always is when you come in here and try to come out on the (winning) side, it’s going to be a rock fight at times,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “I thought we were showed some grittiness and some toughness, maybe when things didn’t flow as smoothly as they can sometimes for us offensively.”

Wisconsin looked in total command of the game at the start. It went on a 6-0 run, clamping down on the defensive end as Rutgers didn’t score for 2 minutes, 57 seconds. The Badgers led by as many as nine points after some early back-and-forth, after which the Scarlet Knights fought back to bring the score within three points. But then Wisconsin ripped off a 10-0 run over 1:31 to extend its lead to 24-11 with 8:36 remaining in the game.

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And after some early misses, the Badgers entered a promising stretch where they traded Rutgers 2s with their own 3s. Five of Wisconsin’s next seven field goals to end the half were 3-pointers. And though the Scarlet Knights’ own makes from deep allowed them to inch closer, the Badgers always had a response, as senior guard Kamari McGee stepped back on the left wing before the first-half buzzer to send them to the locker room leading 43-34. He put his right finger over his mouth and shushed the crowd.

The Badgers, though, struggled to separate much further than that advantage in the second half. Bailey connected on a 3 to start the half, and despite Rutgers missing its next eight shots thereafter, Wisconsin led by only as much as 10 points — which it did twice, the last of which came on a Badgers graduate guard John Tonje layup to make it 49-39 with 14:23 left. Wisconsin turned it over three times as the Scarlet Knights went on a 4:58 run without a field goal.

Then Rutgers went on a 6-2 run, making three shots in a row to cut the Badgers’ lead to 51-45. Wisconsin extended its lead to nine points again, but Rutgers kept inching back closer. It got five offensive rebounds on a single possession, drawing a foul at 8:18 to cut Wisconsin’s lead to 58-53 at the line, then adding a layup after a Tonje miss to cut its lead to three with 7:50 left.

Yet with a quick 5-0 run, Wisconsin settled back into control just enough. It led 65-57 with 4:22 left, and despite Rutgers grabbing 13 second-half offensive rebounds and forcing 10 turnovers over the final 20 minutes, the Badgers did enough to stave off a major run by the talented young Scarlet Knights team.

“(Just) trying do anything we can to get the win,” Tonje said. “It’s a long ride back (to Madison) so I’m glad we got some good, positive vibes on the way back.”

When Rutgers cut the Badgers’ lead to 14-11 early, there was a palpable buzz from the crowd. The Scarlet Knights’ two star freshmen, Bailey and Harper, had yet to get going yet. And after controlling much of the early minutes, Wisconsin finally provided a potential opening for Rutgers’ star power. Yet, calmly, sophomore guard John Blackwell drove left, spun back to his right and directly into a mid-range jumper to quiet the crowd.

“You can’t treat them no different,” Blackwell said of Bailey and Harper. “I mean, everybody can hoop.”

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Perhaps he wasn’t the most notable nationally known player entering the game, but the sophomore point guard was the game’s best player Monday. He scored 21 points on 8-of-15 shooting, making tough shots at big moments to lift Wisconsin. After a career-high 32 points against Iowa on Friday, Blackwell is now firmly hitting the stride that Wisconsin expected of him this offseason.

Wisconsin forward Steven Crowl hadn’t been looking to shoot from long range all throughout the first half, but on a look on the right wing with around 5:26 left to play in the period, he didn’t hesitate to rise. Why? Because the possession earlier, he hit his first 3 of the game on the left wing. Crowl drained the second shot, too — a direct response to a Rutgers 3. With the 3, Wisconsin can separate.

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The Badgers missed their first seven shots from 3-point range, but then made their next five. But the streaky nature of the game didn’t necessarily favor Wisconsin, which got cold once again as Rutgers started to force turnovers and wreak havoc on the defensive end, looking like the Scarlet Knights team that shocked the Badgers at Jersey Mike’s Arena last season.

Wisconsin shot 2 of 9 from 3 in the second half, finishing 7 of 22 from beyond the arc in the game. To win Monday’s game, it would have to score in other ways than it did against Iowa.

“Especially on the road in the Big Ten,” Crowl said, “you’re just gonna have to gut it out sometimes.”

The second half looked like it would belong to Rutgers. The Scarlet Knights were threatening by routinely cutting Wisconsin leads to a single possession. The Badgers were missing 3s. They needed a big shot, so as he did all throughout the beginning of the season, John Tonje stepped back and took it.

“I think he took better shots for the most part (in the second half),” Gard said, “was more aggressive.”

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With 5:59 left in the game, the senior made it a 6-point Wisconsin lead and kept attacking to hold off the late push from the Scarlet Knights. It wasn’t a perfect game for Tonje, who finished with 16 points on 6-of-12 shooting from the field with nine rebounds, but he delivered big shots and 13 second-half points after some more-quiet games recently.

“It was big,” Tonje said of seeing the late shots fall. “I’m just trying to do everything I can to stay aggressive.”