(9) Wisconsin 60, Rutgers 54: Last word

January 16, 2021
|In Badgers
|By Zach Heilprin

No. 9 Wisconsin bounced back from an ugly loss at Michigan by using a late second-half surge to push its way past Rutgers 60-54 on Friday night in New Jersey.

Player of the Game: D’Mitrik Trice

Trice didn’t have a huge game scoring — he finished 13 points — but it’s when those points came that mattered. With Wisconsin trailing 44-42 with 8:42 left, the Badgers went on a 12-0 run. The senior point guard scored eight straight in the run and assisted on another one of the baskets. Wisconsin was able to use that spurt to give them enough offense to get by a pesky Rutgers team.

The good: Aleem Ford

Ford was aggressive on both ends of the floor. He ended up tied for the most points with 14, but also contributed six rebounds, two steals and a career-high four blocks. Ford got the main defensive assignment on Rutgers leading scorer, Ron Harper Jr. Though there was plenty of switching, Ford led an effort that held Harper to just 4 points on 2-for-13 shooting. It was his worst offensive output of the season.

The not so good: Rebounding

Rutgers owned the boards at both ends of the court. The Scarlet Knights out-rebounded Wisconsin by 15 (50-35) overall and 20 of their boards came on the offensive end. It was the most offensive rebounds the Badgers have given up in a regulation game in seven years. Rutgers turned that into 13 second-chance points.

Stat of the Game: 10

That’s how many steals Wisconsin had in the game, which helped in its 17 fast break points. The 10 steals are tied for the most by the Badgers in a Big Ten game in at least the last 10 seasons.

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In Case You Missed It

— For the first time since his freshman year, Nate Reuvers was not in the starting lineup. Instead, coach Greg Gard went with Tyler Wahl, who made his fourth career start. Gard explained afterwards that they needed more mobility on defense, which is what Wahl gave them.

— Brad Davison tied for the team-high with 14 points. He also grabbed seven rebounds. Wisconsin is now 8-0 when Davison hits at least two 3-pointers in a game. The senior was 3-for-9 from beyond the arc on Friday.

— Wisconsin shot just 35.2% from the field. It’s the lowest shooting percentage in a win for Wisconsin since hitting 34.5% against Minnesota in a Feb. 2019 victory.

What’s next?

Wisconsin (11-3, 5-2) will come home to face Northwestern (6-5, 3-4) on Wednesday at the Kohl Center.