John Tonje had 27 points and John Blackwell added 14 to lead 18th-ranked Wisconsin to an 83-55 Big Ten victory over Nebraska on Sunday in Madison, Wis.
Kamari McGee added 11 points for Wisconsin (16-4, 6-3 Big Ten), which bounced back from an 85-83 road loss at UCLA on Tuesday after a seven-game winning streak to improve to 11-1 at home.
Brice Williams had 11 points for Nebraska (12-8, 2-7 Big Ten), which has lost six straight games.
The Badgers sandwiched a red-hot start and strong finish to the first half Saturday around a six-minute drought for a 40-28 lead at the break.
Wisconsin went on an 8-0 run early in the second half, stretching the lead to 52-33 on a driving dunk by Tonje with just over 14 minutes remaining.
Back-to-back 3-pointers by Blackwell and McGree put the Badgers up 60-35 with just under 10:27 left.
Wisconsin went 17 of 37 (45.9 percent) from 3-point range, including five by Tonje and four by Blackwell. The Badgers also had a 17-3 advantage in points off turnovers.
Dating back to last season, Wisconsin is 28-1 when holding opponents to 70 points or fewer.
Wisconsin scored the first eight points of the game and pushed the lead to 19-2, hitting seven of their first eight shots, including five of six from 3-point range.
The Badgers then missed 9 of their next 10 shots, to enable a 14-2 Nebraska run. Andrew Morgan’s free throw for Nebraska cut the deficit to 21-16.
Sam Hoiberg’s 3-pointer brought the Cornhuskers within 24-21 with 5:48 remaining in the first half, but Wisconsin responded with a 16-2 run, pushing the lead to 40-23 when Tonje was fouled on a 3-pointer and converted the four-point play.
Sharpshooting reserve Connor Essegian, who transferred to Nebraska after two seasons at Wisconsin, hit his first 3-pointer off the bench, but finished with eight points in 23 minutes on 3-of-10 shooting.
Essegian entered averaging 11.5 points and shooting 41.5 percent beyond the arc.
–Field Level Media
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