Bronson Koenig
After sitting all but five minutes of the first half with foul trouble, senior guard Bronson Koenig took over in the second half, scoring 17 points to lead the Wisconsin Badgers to a 66-49 win over the Minnesota Gophers on Senior Day at the Kohl Center.
Koenig hit five of seven three-pointers in the second half, after the Badgers trailed by two at halftime.
The Badgers (23-8, 12-6 Big Ten) snapped a three game losing streak and secured the number-two seed and double bye in the Big Ten Tournament in Washington D.C. this week. The Badgers finished tied for second place in the Big Ten with Maryland (24-7, 12-6), but the Badgers won the head-to-head tiebreaker.
Wisconsin will open Big Ten Tournament play in Friday’s quarterfinals at 5:3o p.m. against the winner of Thursday’s game between 10th seeded Indiana and seventh seeded Iowa.
The Gophers (23-8, 11-7), who dropped their 7-straight to Wisconsin in the overall series, saw their eight game win streak come to an end. The Gophers had scored at least 80 points in their last four games, but was held to 49 on Sunday.
Nigel Hayes, Zak Showalter and Ethan Happ all added 12 points for the Badgers, who used a 18-2 run in the second half to take control.
The Badgers once again struggled at the free throw line, making just 6 of 16, but they hit 8 of 10 three-pointers in the second half.
AUDIO: Greg Gard on the win :18
AUDIO: Greg Gard on his team’s defense :23
AUDIO: Bronson Koenig says they played much looser :18
