Badgers leave little doubt this time
Davison’s career-high 19 helps UW close out 3-game losing streak
MADISON - There were no surprises this time around.
Four players scored in double figures, led by Brad Davison's careerhigh 19, as the Wisconsin Badgers breezed past the UW-Milwaukee Panthers, 71-49, on Friday night at the Kohl Center.
Ethan Happ added 14, Brevin Pritzl 12 and D'Mitrik Trice 10 as UW rode a 60% shooting performance in the second half. The Badgers hit 8 of 11 three-pointers in the decisive 20 minutes to snap their three-game losing streak.
UW shot an even 50% and 52.6% (10 for 19) from beyond the arc overall while out-rebounding the undersized Panthers, 37-25.
UWM got 10 points and seven rebounds from Bryce Nze, and nine points apiece from Brock Stull, Bryce Barnes and Jeremiah Bell. The Panthers knocked down just 1 of 11 threepointers.
It was the teams' first meeting since Dec. 9, 2015, when the Panthers stunned the Badgers, 68-67, to win for just the second time in 33 games in the series.
The game turned on a 13-2 Badgers run that spanned the final 3 minutes 35 seconds of the first half and the first 3:49 of the second.
Five players contributed over that span for UW, with Davison's layup stretching the Badgers' advantage to 34-23 with 16:24 remaining .
A runner by Stull on the ensuing possession finally got UWM onto the board, but UW answered with a Happ layup and then a backbreaker — a long three-pointer from the left
wing from Kobe King as the shot clock expired that gave the Badgers their biggest lead to that point at 39-25.
UW steadily distanced itself from UWM the rest of the way, with 3 threes — two from Trice sandwiched around another from Davison, who was making just his second collegiate start — helping the cause.
Davison hit three more threes down the stretch before exiting to a nice ovation with 2:01 left. He hit 7 of 8 shots overall and 5 of his 6 three-point attempts while also chipping in four rebounds in 28 minutes.
UW entered having lost three straight — all to top-25 programs in games it was tied or within two points with 2:00 to go. The first setback was to Xavier, 80-70, in the Badgers' last game at the Kohl Center on Nov. 16.
UWM, meanwhile, had won two straight and four of five to open the season. Two of the victories were especially memorable — 74-56 at Iowa State on Nov. 13 and 72-71 over Elon on Sunday, a game in which the Panthers battled back from a 19-point deficit late in the first half to win at the buzzer.
A back-and-forth first half saw the Panthers hang tough despite being undersized and outmanned by the Badgers. UWM was even with UW as late as the 5:01 mark, on Stull's first basket of the game, before the Badgers used a 7-2 run to head into halftime with a 28-23 lead.
Bell's fallaway jumper at the buzzer kept the Panthers from being blanked over that final stretch, and UWM actually bested UW from the floor, 42.3% to 41.4%, over the initial 20 minutes.
Helping the Panthers were high-percentage shots from Brett Prahl, who scored UWM's first six points and eight in all on perfect 4-for-4 shooting in 16 first-half min- utes. Prahl did much of his damage against Happ, whose eight points led the Badgers.
The teams combined to hit just 2 of 12 threepointers — both by the Badgers — and shoot a total of only seven free throws.
Each team committed only four turnovers in a half that saw the lead change 10 times.
There was one noteworthy personnel move made in the early going by UW coach Greg Gard, who burned the redshirt of 6-foot-10 freshman forward Nate Reuvers of Lakeville, Minn., by inserting him into the game at the 14:31 mark.
Reuvers played seven minutes in the first half and wasn't shy, taking five shots and missing them all.
He did contribute three rebounds and a pair of assists as well.