The Wisconsin Badgers kept things rolling in the early stages of Big Ten men’s basketball as they blew out the Nebraska Cornhuskers, 88-72, on Saturday at the Kohl Center in Madison.
The Badgers (11-3, 3-0 in Big Ten) have now won four straight since their loss on the road to Arizona in December. Wisconsin has also won 10 of its last seven games and is off to a 3-0 start in league action for the second straight season.
The No. 21 Badgers fired away at the Cornhuskers (12-3, 2-2) all afternoon as Wisconsin snapped Nebraska’s five-game winning streak. The Badgers shot 55% for the game and 50% from the 3-point line as five players scored in double figures, led by Tyler Wahl, who had 17 points.
Chucky Hepburn had 13 points, Connor Essegian scored 12 and AJ Storr and John Blackwell scored 10 each. Essegian made four 3-pointers and Hepburn made three as the Badgers connected on 13 of them for their highest total from the arc this season.
Nebraska shot well for the game, nearly 50% after a hot start of its own, as the Huskers shot 53.8% from the floor and 50% from the 3-point line in the first half. And, while the Huskers forced 17 Badgers turnovers to their 12, the Badgers outrebounded the Huskers 32-26 and blew them away with a 38-16 edge in the paint.
Wisconsin had a similar edge off the bench, which include the double-figure games of Essegian and Blackwell.
Keisei Tominaga led Nebraska with 17 points, while Rienk Mast scored 16 and Brice Williams scored 10. The Huskers lost Williams late in the second half to an apparent ankle injury.
The Badgers are off until Wednesday when they put their undefeated Big Ten mark on the line against Ohio State in Columbus, Ohio, at 7:30 p.m. on the Big Ten Network.
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