UW basketball: Hayes powers Badgers past Oklahoma.

Madison — Even college athletes need encouraging words from their mothers now and then.

Just ask Wisconsin senior Nigel Hayes, who received an important reminder from his mother, Talaya Davis, to maintain an aggressive attitude one day before No. 17 Wisconsin’s game against Oklahoma.

Hayes scored a seasonhigh 28 points to a lead the Badgers to a 90-70 win over Oklahoma on Saturday at the Kohl Center.

“I had some reassurance with that mind-set (Friday), if you could have heard the phone call my mother (and I) had,” Hayes said.

“She definitely got into me and wanted me to make sure I came here and played hard, aggressive. And that’s what I tried to do: Be aggressive offensively and if I don’t have anything, find my teammates.”

The forward delivered 18 second-half points to help boost the Badgers to their third straight win. Hayes also dished six assists and had no turnovers in 37 minutes.

D’Mitrik Trice, Bronson Koenig and Ethan Happ scored 16 points each for UW (7-2), which shot 52.4% (33 of 63).

Trice drilled 4 of 4 three-point attempts for the Badgers, who posted their 11th consecutive win at the Kohl Center.

Sooners senior guard Jordan Woodard shot 3 of 4 from beyond the arc in the first half for Oklahoma, which shot 50% (14 of 28) in the half as it never trailed and led by as many as eight points.

Sophomore guard Rashard Odomes scored a team-high 17 points for Oklahoma (5-2).

Odomes’ 12-foot jumper put the Sooners up, 5857, at 11:45 of the second half, but the Badgers took control with a 20-3 run. Oklahoma became mired in a second-half field-goal drought that stretched 5plus minutes.

Oklahoma coach Lon Kruger said the Sooners made no second-half adjustments on defense but felt the Badgers got into a rhythm on offense.

“They started making shots like that in the second half, really knocked us on our heels and we didn’t respond very well ,” Kruger said of UW, which shot 63.3% (19 of 30) in the second half.

Kruger was impressed with Hayes’ 28-point performance, his highest output this season and best since a 30-point game against Purdue last season.

“He’s very challenging and a terrific player,” Kruger said of Hayes, who is third on the team in scoring at 11.1 points per game. “He’ll make you pay when you double (team) him . ... He’s very willing to kick it out to a bunch of good shooters.”

Hayes and Happ combined for 20 first-half points to keep UW close going into the intermission, as Oklahoma held on to a 40-37 lead.

The teams swapped the lead nine times early in the second half, and Hayes’ teardrop jumper put UW ahead at 55-52 with 13:25 left.

UW coach Greg Gard said when the team returned from its holiday trip to Maui, Hawaii, the Badgers’ understanding of Hayes’ contributions began to sink in: The team plays best when its leader works and scores from 18 feet or closer.

Hayes being active in the post, attacking from the basket and distributing from the inside are threats. Hayes is the team’s leader in assists, with 3.77 per game. He’s also averaging 5.7 rebounds.

“He has the unique skill set in terms of his size, quickness and strength — he’s a hard matchup,” Gard said. “The further he gets away from the basket, the more the hard matchup scenarios level off and dissipate.”