Wisconsin comes back in 73–63 overtime win over Minnesota

MADISON — After their best performance of the season against a top-10 Purdue squad, the Wisconsin Badgers floundered for most of the second half against one of the worst teams in the conference.

After leading by one at halftime, Wisconsin went ice cold from the field for most of the second half. Greg Gard’s squad rebounded after being down by as much as seven points, however, forced overtime, and ultimately overwhelmed Minnesota in overtime during its 73–63 win on Monday night inside the Kohl Center.

Redshirt sophomore guard Brevin Pritzl scored a game-high 20 points for Wisconsin (13–16, 6–10 Big Ten), with 12 of those points coming after the 6:17 mark left in regulation and into overtime. The Green Bay native shot 6-of-10 from the field, including 6-of-9 from beyond the arc, while making both free throw attempts.

True freshman guard Brad Davison scored 14 of his 19 points in the first half on 6-of-13 shooting, including 5-of-8 from three-point range.

Pritzl’s efforts were part of a 22–5 run that started after a Jordan Murphy three-pointer that gave Minnesota (14–15, 3–13) its second seven-point lead at 58–51 with 5:58 remaining. Murphy’s three nullified a Pritzl three-pointer of his own to bring the game back within a four-point deficit for Wisconsin.

Murphy scored a team-high 16 points, hitting seven of 11 field-goal attempts, along with grabbing 11 rebounds before fouling out with 38 seconds remaining in overtime.

With Murphy’s basket at the 5:58 mark, Minnesota had shot 55.6 percent (10-of-18) from the field in the second half to extend its advantage to its largest of the game.

For the rest of regulation after that three-pointer, however, Minnesota did not make a field goal on 0-for-7 shooting, scoring only other one point—a free throw—in that nearly six-minute span.

On the other side, Wisconsin hit only six of 19 shots in the second half until the 4:08 mark when Pritzl drilled a three-pointer. UW then connected on three of its final seven field-goal attempts to force the extra five minutes.

After a couple of three-point misses by Pritzl and redshirt freshman forward Aleem Ford and a Davison turnover, Khalil Iverson’s layup with 1:32 remaining made it a two-point game.

Both Ethan Happ and Davison missed field goals in the final 39 seconds, allowing Murphy to head to the free throw line after Ford fouled him with 14 seconds left in the game.

Murphy hit only one of two free throws, though, with Iverson grabbing the rebound and drawing a foul by center Bakary Konate a second later.

Iverson scored only seven points but contributed a game-high 12 rebounds, three assists, and two blocks in the win.

The junior forward made only the front end of his two free throws, but an offensive rebound by Ford gave the Badgers a opportunity with 13 seconds left. With Wisconsin calling a timeout with nine seconds left, the play was set.

Happ—who scored only 10 points after being trapped all game but recorded four rebounds and five assists—connected on the layup that tied the game at 59–59 with six seconds remaining in the game.

Guard Nate Mason (11 points, five assists in 41 minutes) drove down the court on the last possession in regulation but missed the layup against Happ after tripping on Davison’s left leg, sending the game into overtime.

From there, Wisconsin pushed a 10–2 run in a 2:38 span to open up the extra frame. Pritzl and Happ contributed six and four points, respectively, in that time span, with the former nailing two three-pointers to continue his hot night shooting.

Murphy was the only Gopher to connect on a field goal in overtime at the 3:51 mark, with Minnesota committing four turnovers and shooting 25 percent (1-of-4) in the frame.

For the game, Minnesota shot 43.1 percent (25-of-58) from the field, 6-of-16 from three-point range. Wisconsin made 45.5 percent of its field-goal attempts for the game (25 of 55), including 12 of 29 from beyond the arc (41.4 percent).

In those final five minutes of overtime, however, UW hit four of its five shots to finish the game and end Minnesota’s chances of escaping the Kohl Center with a win.