Wisconsin dominates Savannah State in 101-60 win

MADISON—Wisconsin broke a single-half scoring record while overwhelming Savannah State in a 101-60 win on Thursday night at the Kohl Center.

Sophomore guard Brad Davison scored a season-high 24 points on 8-of-11 shooting. He drained six of nine attempts from three-point range, along with tallying four rebounds and five assists.

His three-pointer with seven seconds left in the first half set a team single-game school record for points scored in a single half as the Badgers built up a nice 69-32 halftime lead. UW hit 70.6 percent of its shots (24 of 34) from the field, 68.8 percent (11 of 16) from three-point range in those first 20 minutes.

Five Badgers scored in double figures overall in the win.

Redshirt senior forward Ethan Happ recorded yet another double-double with 18 points and 11 rebounds with six assists. That is nine double-doubles on the year for the Wisconsin big man.

True freshman guard Tai Strickland saw extended playing time on Thursday night, scoring a career-high 14 points on 5-of-7 shooting plus six assists in just under 17 minutes.

Redshirt sophomore guard D’Mitirk Trice added 14 points, three rebounds and four assists in over 23 minutes of play. He shot 4-of-7 from three-point range and 5-of-8 overall.

Kobe King, starting in place of an injured Khalil Iverson, scored 10 points with three rebounds in the win. UW announced Iverson’s absence was due to a lower left leg injury.

Overall for the game, Wisconsin (9-2, 2-0 Big Ten) shot 56.1 percent from the field (37 of 66) and 47.1 percent (16 of 34) from three-point range. Those 16 three-pointers tied for second-most in a single game in UW history. The 11 the Badgers hit from deep in the first 20 minutes tied a single-game school record for most in a single half.

At one point, Wisconsin led by as much as 44 over Savannah State (3-9), which shot only 40 percent from the field (24 of 60). Almost two-thirds of those field goal attempts, 39 to be exact, came from three-point range.

The Tigers only connected on 11 of those opportunities from deep.

Junior guard Jaquan Dotson scored a team-high 20 points for Savannah State, hitting 50 percent of his attempts overall (eight of 16). Junior forward Tyrell Harper recorded a double-double (11 points, 12 rebounds) and guard Zach Sellers contributed 11 points with eight assists in the loss.

For the 41st time in program history, UW went over the century mark for points. It was the first time since Nov. 19, 2013, when the Badgers rolled over North Dakota in a 103-85 victory. Of course, that was the game forward Frank Kaminsky scored a school-record 43 points in the win.

Now with a break of over a week, Wisconsin will resume action on Dec. 22 at home against Grambling State.