John Blackwell scored 25 points and grabbed 11 rebounds, and No. 12 Wisconsin held on for a 74-67 victory over Minnesota in a Big Ten Conference battle Wednesday night in Minneapolis.
John Tonje added 18 points and pulled down seven rebounds for Wisconsin (23-7, 13-6 Big Ten), which bounced back from a loss against No. 8 Michigan State in its previous game. Steven Crowl added 10 points on 4-for-6 shooting.
Brennan Rigsby scored 18 points on 6-for-10 shooting to lead Minnesota (15-15, 7-12). Lu’Cye Patterson scored 15 points, and Dawson Garcia finished with 14 points and eight rebounds.
Wisconsin won the rebound battle 41-34. The Badgers made 21 of 24 free-throw attempts, and Minnesota made only eight of 15 from the line.
Minnesota trimmed its deficit to 57-56 with six minutes to go after Rigsby made one of two free throws.
Wisconsin finished with a 17-11 run to seize the victory. Carter Gilmore made two free throws to start the late-game surge, and Jack Janicki made a pair of baskets in the final five minutes.
Crowl’s dunk put Wisconsin on top 46-35 with 13 minutes to go.
The Golden Gophers stormed back with an 11-0 run to even the score at 46 with 11:04 left. Rigsby and Garcia opened the run with back-to-back 3-pointers.
Wisconsin led 33-27 at the half.
The Badgers relied on an early 12-0 run to pull ahead by nine points in the first five minutes. Blackwell made a 3-pointer and a jump shot to finish off the run.
Minnesota responded with a 9-0 run to even the score at 12 with 11:03 to go. Femi Odukale punctuated the run when he grabbed a rebound on the defensive end and knocked down a jump shot on the offensive end.
Wisconsin inched ahead 31-25 on a layup by Tonje with 2:03 remaining.
Rigsby and Crowl traded baskets in the final minute before the break.
–Field Level Media
