Trice sparks UW down the stretch
If anyone had any doubt about how important D'Mitrik Trice is to Wisconsin's success this season, UW's sometimes ugly 60-54 victory over Rutgers should reinforce he is arguably the team's most valuable player.
Trice scored 9 of his 14 points in the final 7 minutes 5 seconds of the game to help UW overcome getting pounded on the offensive glass and in the paint Friday night at the Rutgers Athletic Center in Piscataway, New Jersey.
“He hit some big shots there as we were able to stretch out that lead to 10,” UW coach Greg Gard said. “He was able to get into some ball-screen situations and we had a couple things we ran for him out of timeouts as well.
“He picked the right spots. It was good for him to step up at the right time, which senior point guards tend to do that.”
The Badgers (11-3, 5-2) rebounded from an ugly 23-point loss to Michigan on Tuesday and moved into a tie for third place in the league with Illinois. When Illinois lost to Ohio State on Saturday, Wisconsin had the spot alone.
The victory was UW's first at Rutgers in four tries since the Scarlet Knights joined the Big Ten. Rutgers (7-5, 3-5) suffered its fourth consecutive loss, all against ranked teams.
Trice, who added five assists, four rebounds and two steals, did not have to fly the plane solo.
Aleem Ford, who hit just 2 of 8 shots at Michigan, contributed 14 points, six rebounds, four blocks and two steals. He also played outstanding defense against Ron Harper Jr.
“He is really confident right now,” guard Brad Davison said of Ford. “When he is aggressive and getting things going it is definitely a huge boost for our team.
Davison, 5 for 17 from three-point range and 8 for 31 overall in the previous five games, scored nine of his 14 points in the opening half for UW.
He made only 3 of 12 shots – all threepointers – but grabbed seven rebounds and hit 5 of 5 free throws to help UW go 16 for 21 from the line.
Micah Potter hit just 3 of 11 shots but fought through the missed shots to contribute 10 points and eight rebounds.
Gard tweaked his starting lineup, presumably in an attempt to match up defensively with Rutgers' small lineup.
Forward Tyler Wahl, who started in place of Nate Reuvers, scored four points, grabbed six rebounds and drew a critical charge late. He also played solid defense on Geo Baker.
Harper (18.7 ppg), Jacob Young (15.3 ppg) and Montez Mathis (11.9 ppg) entered the night having combined to average 45.9 of Rutgers' 71.7 points per game in league play. That trio combined for only 25 points Friday.
UW trailed by two in the second half, but Potter tipped in a miss by Davison and Ford scored in transition for a 46-44 lead, forcing Rutgers to call a timeout with 7:45 left.
Trice had taken only three shots to that point but after Rutgers failed to score he buried a three-pointer to give UW a 49-44 cushion with 7:05 left.
He wasn't finished. After another Rutgers miss, Trice hit another threepointer with the shot clock running down. That gave UW a 52-44 lead with 5:30 left.
The Scarlet Knights got baskets from Harper and Young to pull within 54-48 with 2:37 left but UW hit 6 of 8 free throws over the final 31.4 seconds to hold on.
“It was a typical at the RAC rock fight,” said Gard, whose team won despite shooting 24.0% from three-point range and just 35.2% overall. “Physical. A lot of grit and determination exhibited tonight. Proud of our guys.
“That is what it takes to win against Rutgers. You've got to play exceptionally hard. And it's not always going to be pretty. You've got to try to match how hard and aggressive and gritty they are.”