Andy Van Vliet
The Wisconsin men’s basketball team hit 15 of 27 three-pointers (55.6%) and rolled to a 87-53 win over the New Zealand Breakers on Thursday morning in Tauranga, New Zealand.
Junior Andy Van Vliet made his first start as a Badger and led the way with 14 points. Sophomore point guard D’Mitrik Trice added 12 points, while freshmen Kobe King and Nathan Reuvers each scored 9 points for Wisconsin (2-0).
The Badgers changed their starting lineup. Besides sophomore Brevin Pritzl, coach Greg Gard went with freshman Brad Davison, redshirt freshman Aleem Ford, Van Vliet and junior Charlie Thomas. That group helped the Badgers jump out to a 11-0 lead.
Defensively, the Badgers held the Breakers to 29.7% shooting from the field and 3-for-21 (14.3%) from three-point range.
The Badgers now head to Melbourne, Australia for the third game of their five game trip. They’ll face the Hawthorn Magic on Friday.