The Wisconsin Badgers built a 22-point halftime lead and went on to beat Coppin State 85-63 in their season opener at the Kohl Center on Tuesday night.
Preseason All-American forward Ethan Happ finished with 10 points, 12 assists and 11 rebounds, recording the program’s second ever triple-double. Josh Gasser had the first back in 2011 against Northwestern.
D’Mitrik Trice scored 17 of his game high 21 points in the first half, hitting five of nine from three-point range. He finished seven of thirteen overall.
Brevin Pritzl hit four of five from behind the arc and finished with 16 points.
As a team, the Badgers hit 12 of 32 from distance for the game and even more impressively, made 23 of 26 at the free throw line.
The Badgers fell behind early, trailing Coppin State 11-6 just two-minutes and 52-seconds into the game. But the Badgers went on a 22-2 run over the next nine minutes to build a lead.
The Badgers committed just five turnovers in the win. They’re off until next Tuesday when they travel to Xavier in the Gavitt Tipoff games.
AUDIO: Greg Gard on Ethan Happ :14
AUDIO: Gard says Happ’s skill set is rare, fans need to appreciate him :16