Greg Gard
The Wisconsin Badgers were riding high after last week’s upset victory over Michigan State, but the momentum from that win didn’t carry over to last night. Wisconsin traveled to Minneapolis and fell to the Minnesota Gophers 70-52 at Williams Arena.
The Badgers the Gophers both came out of the gates shooting well, but only the Gophers continued that trend while the Badgers cooled off considerably.
Wisconsin (13-10, 6-6 Big Ten) shot just 28% from the field (19-67), and 24% from three-point range (7-29), including a 1 for 16 effort in the second half. The loss drops the Badgers into a tie with Minnesota (12-10, 6-6) and Purdue (13-10, 6-6). The Boilermakers crushed visiting Iowa Wednesday night 104-68.
The Gophers had four players score in double figures, led by Payton Willis, who had 21 points. Forward Daniel Oturu also added 17 points and 14 rebounds for his 12th double-double of the season.
Nate Reuvers led the Badgers in scoring with 14 points, Micah Potter added 11 points and 15 rebounds.
“I didn’t think we were physical enough in the paint,” Coach Greg Gard said. “We got the ball in there and didn’t finish, didn’t get to the free-throw line as much as we needed to.
“We faded away too much, settled for jump shots at times. It showed itself in some of the shooting percentages.”
The Badgers return home and will host Ohio State on Sunday.