A sloppy start for the Wisconsin Badgers saw head coach Greg Gard go to his bench early. The result, a 69-64 victory over Chicago State at the Kohl Center.
Ethan Happ, Vitto Brown and Zack Showalter were all pulled from the game in the first two minutes and the bench led the Badgers to victory. Wisconsin’s reserves scored 18 of the Badgers 32 first-half points. The reserves finished with 36 points, 23 rebounds and 11 assists.
Sophomore Khalil Iverson led that reserve group with 11 points, five rebounds, two assists and a block.
Freshman guard D’Mitrik Trice had seven assists in 23 minutes to help run the show off the bench.
After attempting 39 three-pointers in a 12-point loss to Creighton on Tuesday, the Badgers attempted only 19 shots from beyond the arc in this game. The Badgers finished with 34 points in the paint and got to the free-throw line 21 times, making 13.
After being benched early, Vitto Brown returned to lead Wisconsin with 12 points.
The Badgers are now off until Monday when they face Tennessee in the opening round of the Maui Invitational.
AUDIO: Greg Gard on 36 points off the bench :12