Brevin Pritzl
Just days after the Wisconsin Badgers rebounded in the second half to knock off then, sixth ranked Purdue, the Badgers did it again. UW came from four down in the final minute and a half of regulation to force overtime and then beat Minnesota 73-63 on Monday night at the Kohl Center.
Earlier this season, Brevin Pritzl had a hard time throwing the ball in the ocean while standing right next to it. But Pritzl has found his stroke again, He came in averaging 12 points and 5 rebounds in the last three games. Monday night, Pritzl finished with 20 points, including 6 of 9 from three-point distance to lead the Badgers to victory. Two of the teams four overtime field goals were Pritzl three’s.
Brad Davison added 19 points, hitting 5 of 8 three-pointers. The Badgers made 12 of 29 from distance as a team.
Ethan Happ was held scoreless in the first half, but Happ scored ten points in the second half, to go along with the tying basket with 5.2 seconds left in regulation that sent the game to overtime.
Khalil Iverson added seven points and 12 rebounds. Aleem Ford hit just 1 of 8 from three-point range, but finished with nine points and four rebounds.
The Badgers won for the third time in the last four games and extended their winning streak in the series with the Gophers to eight games. The win allows the Badgers to clinch no worse than the 10th seed for the Big Ten Tournament, which means they avoid having to play in the tournament’s opening round.
Minnesota, which lost its 9th straight game got 16 points and 11 rebounds from Jordan Murphy. Sophomore forward Michael Hurt, who was averaging just 2.9 points a game coming in, finished with 15 points for the Gophers.
Wisconsin (13-16, 6-10 Big Ten) is now tied with Northwestern (15-14, 6-10) after the Wildcats fell to Maryland 71-64 on Monday. The two teams will meet Thursday night at 6 p.m. in Rosemont. The Wildcats won the first meeting 60-52 in Madison.