Steven Crowl matched his season-high with 18 points and John Tonje added 16 as Wisconsin rolled past Minnesota 80-59 for its fifth consecutive victory Friday night in Madison, Wis.
The Badgers (13-3, 3-2 Big Ten) were without starting guard Max Klesmit, who injured his ankle in Monday’s 75-63 road win at Rutgers.
Kamari McGee starting in place of Klesmit, added 15 points for the Badgers, who improved to 25-1 dating back to last season when holding opponents to 70 points or fewer.
Dawson Garcia had 22 points and 10 rebounds, but was the only player in double figures for Minnesota (8-8, 0-5 Big Ten),
Wisconsin has won eight straight vs. the Gophers and 17 of the last 19.
Wisconsin led 30-29 at the break before Minnesota scored the first two points of the second half.
Wisconsin then got rolling and took a 43-33 lead. John Blackwell and Crowl hit back-to-back 3-pointers to cap the 13-2 run.
The Badgers capitalized on four Minnesota turnovers over a five-minute span, stretching the lead to 61-42 on Crowl’s three-point play.
Reserve Markus Ilver, who had only four 3-pointers this season in limited action, hit consecutive 3-pointers to put Wisconsin up 67-43 just over eight minutes left.
The Badgers pushed the lead to 77-47 before the Gophers closed with a 12-3 run.
Wisconsin, which entered leading the nation in free-throw percentage at 85.5%, hit its first 17 free-throw attempts, finishing 19 of 24.
After hitting just 3 of 13 from 3-point range in the first half, the Badgers were 8 of 15 from deep in the second half. Wisconsin also scored 19 points off 15 Minnesota turnovers.
Wisconsin erased an early 15-5 deficit with a 15-2 run, going in front 20-17 on a pair of free throws by McGee with just under eight minutes left in the half.
–Field Level Media
