Badgers 82, Nebraska 68: Last word

MADISON — Wisconsin hit a school record 18 3-pointers and outscored Nebraska by 13 in the second half on its way to an 82-68 win over the Huskers Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.

Player of the Game: D’Mitrik Trice

The junior guard put together his best all around game of the season against the Huskers. He had 11 points, but added a career-high 10 rebounds and a season-high-tying seven assists. Trice did have three turnovers, including a couple that had coach Greg Gard livid on the sideline. But he also had three steals and had a big hand in limiting Huskers point guard Cam Mack to a 5-for-15 shooting night, including just 1 of 8 in the second half.

The good: Brad Davison

Wisconsin led by just one at halftime, but used a 17-4 run to open the second half to take control. Davison played a big role in that stretch, scoring all 11 of his second-half points. He finished with 14 points, including a season-high four 3-pointers.

The not so good: First-half defense

Gard lit into his team at the half after giving up 38 points, including 18 in the paint. A lot of that came courtesy of Nebraska’s two guards slashing through and meeting very little resistance, especially after Nate Reuvers picked up his second foul. The duo of Cam Mack and Dachon Burke combined for 24 points before the break on 10 of 14 shooting.

“Very displeased, kind of across the board,” Davison said of Gard’s attitude in the locker room about their defense. “That was definitely the message at halftime. ‘Don’t worry about offense. Offense will take care of itself but we’re going to win the game on the defensive end.’ That starts with the guy on the ball and trickles down. We don’t play individual defense. We play defense as a unit, as five guys together connected. There were a lot of holes in the first half that we had to clean up there in the second half.”

Stat of the Game: 18

That’s how many 3-pointers the Badgers hit Tuesday night. It was the most in school history and nearly everyone got in on the party. Eight different guys hit at least one.

Best video:

What they said:

Greg Gard credited the passing for their strong night shooting the ball:

“For the most part, we put the ball on time and on target. When you move the ball like that, and you put it on target, you’re going to shoot it well.”

Gard added that the “on time, on target” saying came from assistant coach Howard Moore.

In Case You Missed It

— Micah Potter had eight points and four rebounds in the first half, but struggled on the defensive end. He played just 2 minutes after the break and was clearly frustrated on the bench. Davison was seen with his arm around a visibly upset Potter trying to calm him down.

“I was just telling him to calm down and relax a little bit,” Davison said. “There’s a lot more game left. He was just being pretty hard on himself for something that happened in the game. I just tried to speak confidence into him and keep him positive.”

— Five different players have at least 10 rebounds in a game this year for Wisconsin. Three of them have been guards — Trice, Davison and Brevin Pritzl.

— Wisconsin had 23 assists on 29 made baskets. That’s assists on 79.3 percent of the makes, the highest percentage in a game this season.

What’s next?

Wisconsin (12-7, 5-3) will travel to Purdue (10-9, 3-5) on Friday to face the Boilermakers.