The No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers needed a major response after falling short in an upset home loss to Maryland on Monday. This afternoon’s second half at the Kohl Center was as impressive of a response as you will see.
On New Year’s Eve, the Badgers took momentum with them into what could be a special 2021 for the program. Wisconsin took care of No. 21 Minnesota 71-59 in a tale of two halves for the Badgers. A 7-point halftime lead doesn’t sound like a bad result for Wisconsin, but the 29-22 score at half was more indicative of two teams building mansions with bricks than a big-time response from Greg Gard’s squad.
Minnesota had their worst offensive half of the year in the first 20 minutes, with some of the credit going towards Wisconsin’s defense and a significant amount of blame going towards a lid on the Gopher rim. The Gophers finished the half shooting 19%. That is not a typo, I promise. Minnesota went 3-14 (21.4% from three) in the period and had dynamic leading scorer Marcus Carr held to just 2-6 from the field with five points. They couldn’t finish inside in large part due to Wisconsin pressure and excellent defense without fouling, and couldn’t buy an open three. D’Mitrik Trice did an excellent job making life difficult for Carr early.
Unlike against Maryland, it was clear that Wisconsin was able to establish the post early and often. The first seven Badger points of the afternoon were scored by either Nate Reuvers or Micah Potter. After just 21 paint points in Monday’s loss, Wisconsin finished with 40 points in the paint this afternoon.
While staggering Potter and Reuvers’ minutes, the Badgers were versatile defensively. On offense, Reuvers or Potter got touches nearly every time down, and even 6-foot-8 senior Aleem Ford did work in the post.
Wisconsin had long stretches of offensive struggles early, but through 6 points from freshman guard Johnny Davis and an initial flurry of scoring from Micah Potter held a seven-point lead at the half.
The second half was all Wisconsin all the time. After a first half where the Badgers went just 2-9 from three (22.2%) and 13-33 from the field (39%), they finally turned their defense into offense. Wisconsin won the first 12 minutes of the half 31-12, and took an insurmountable 26-point lead with just over 8 minutes left.
Ford stood out in the second half with one of his best performances of the year so far. He led Wisconsin with 10 points in the half, on two made threes and a couple nice buckets at the rim. The senior finished with 14 points on 6-10 from the field.
Potter led the way after his ten-point first half, ending up with a game-high 18 points on 8-15 shooting.
It was the 11th win in 13 games against Minnesota for Wisconsin basketball.
Wisconsin improved to 9-2 overall and 3-1 in Big Ten play, while Minnesota dropped to 9-2 overall and 2-2 in Big Ten play. Next up for the Badgers is a road clash with Penn State on Sunday.