File Photo – D’Mitrik Trice(Photo by David Stluka)
Aleem Ford and Brad Davison scored 14 points each and D’Mitrik Trice added 13 points to lead the 9th ranked Wisconsin Badgers to a 60-54 Big Ten Conference road victory over the Rutgers Scarlet Knights in Big Ten action on Friday night in Piscataway, New Jersey.
Trice scored eight points and assisted on another basket during a 12-0 Wisconsin run to give the Badgers a 54-44 lead and create some separation from what was a back and forth struggle in the second half.
Wisconsin (11-3, 5-2 Big Ten) shot just 35% from the field and hit just 6 of 25 (24%) from behind the three-point line for the game. Rutgers (7-5, 3-5) shot 37% from the field and made just 2 of 19 (10.5%) from three-point distance.
The Badgers let by as many as 10 points in the first half, but the Scarlet Knights cut the lead to one (33-32) at halftime.
Jacob Young led Rutgers with a game-high 17 points and the Scarlet Knights won the rebound battle 50-35. But the Badgers made 16 of 21 (76.2%) free throw attempts, while Rutgers attempted just seven free throws for the game, making just 2 of 7 (28.6%).
It was a good bounce back win for the Badgers, after their blowout loss at Michigan on Tuesday.
The Badgers return to action on Wednesday night against Northwestern in Madison. Rutgers is at Penn State on Thursday.