John Blackwell scored a game-high 28 points to lead No. 24 Wisconsin to an 84-69 win over USC in Los Angeles on Saturday in a Big Ten contest.
Max Klesmit scored 18 points and Nolan Winter added 13 points for Wisconsin (15-3, 5-2), which has won seven straight following a three-game skid.
The Badgers were only 8 of 29 from 3-point range (32.1 percent) but went 22 of 27 (81.4 percent) on 2-pointers and 13 of 15 from the free-throw line.
Saint Thomas scored 19 points, Rashaun Agee chipped in 15 and Wesley Yates added 11 for USC (11-6, 3-4), which had won two straight.
The Trojans turned the ball over 16 times, shot 49.1 percent from the field overall (26 of 53) and 40 percent (6 of 15) from 3-point range.
Wisconsin held a 19-point lead in the second half, but USC whittled its deficit to three at 55-52 with 10:44 remaining following a three-point play by Desmond Claude.
The Badgers answered, going on an 8-2 run to take a 63-54 lead with 8:14 left. Wisconsin continued to rebuild its big lead, going up 70-57 following a 3-pointer by Kamari McGee and a basket by Blackwell with 6:13 remaining.
A Klesmit 3-pointer gave Wisconsin a 76-60 lead with 4:04 to go. USC couldn’t bring its deficit back to single digits the rest of the game.
Trailing 51-32 with 17:54 remaining, USC got back in it with a 13-0 run to cut Wisconsin’s lead to 51-45 with 14:51 left. Thomas led the Trjoans with eight points during that stretch.
Wisconsin gained some separation in the first half, going on a 13-2 run to grab a 25-10 lead with 9:14 remaining.
The Badgers led by as many as 17 in the first half at 42-25 with 26 seconds left until halftime.
–Field Level Media
