A long-awaited gift
Badgers end 12-game skid at Breslin Center
Somewhere, Devin Harris, Mike Wilkinson and their former Wisconsin teammates were smiling.
UW’s streak of frustration at the Breslin Center – 12 consecutive losses, including eight by double digits – has been extinguished. Finally.
Seniors D’Mitrik Trice and Nate Reuvers were fabulous in the second half Friday to help No. 9 UW overcome a nine-point deficit and snap a 12-game losing streak at the Breslin Center with an impressive 85-76 victory over No. 11 Michigan State.
Before Friday, the last time UW won in the Breslin Center was March 2, 2004, as Harris and Wilkinson scored 18 points apiece for Bo Ryan.
“We knew that coming into the game and we knew that with all these seniors that we wanted to get it done today,” said Trice, whose
brother, Travis, played for the Spartans from 2011-15. “We wanted to get this one really bad.”
This UW team (2-0 in the Big Ten and 8-1 overall) won with balance.
Trice hit 4 of 7 three-pointers, 7 of 14 shots overall and 11 of 15 free throws to finish with 29 points. He scored UW’s first 13 points of the second half to help UW wipe out a 51-42 deficit.
“I knew somebody had to make some plays, get to the rim or make some shots,” Trice said. “It just happened to be my turn tonight.”
Reuvers scored all eight of his points in the final 7 minutes 37 seconds. He contributed two huge blocks in the final 3:38, with UW protecting leads of 73-69 and 79-74.
“He showed up when seniors showed up,” UW coach Greg Gard said of Reuvers. “He was big in crunch time and we needed to step on the gas and get some separation.”
Aleem Ford contributed 13 points, four rebounds and two assists. Brad
Davison and Micah Potter added 11 points apiece. Potter added six rebounds and five assists. Davison added four rebounds and four assists.
Jonathan Davis (seven points), Tyler Wahl (four points) and Trevor Anderson (two points) all made big plays.
“Every single person that played – all eight of those guys – gave us sparks and made important plays,” Gard said. “They’re all important.”
Redshirt junior forward Joey Hauser, who sat out last season after transferring from Marquette, led the Spartans (6-2, 0-2) with 27 points.
UW had more play-makers, however.
Reuvers scored six points in a span of 1:16 to turn a 62-61 deficit into a 67-62 lead.
“When opportunities come,” he said, “you just make the most of them.”
Davison and Davis scored on consecutive possessions after the Spartans had pulled within two points.
Ford dived out of bounds to save a loose ball with UW leading, 75-69. The ball went to Trice, who fired ahead to Davis for a lay-in and a 77-69 lead with 1:36 left.
After the victory, the water came down on Gard’s head in the UW locker room.
“We’ve got a lot of heart,” Trice said. “It really showed down when we got down nine. We could have folded but we battled back and we’ve got a lot of guys who can make a lot of plays in bigtime moments.”