RECAP: John Blackwell leads Wisconsin basketball to blowout win over Washington

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Backed by 24 points from sophomore John Blackwell, Wisconsin basketball (22-6, 12-5 Big Ten) cruised to an 88-62 victory over the Washington Huskies (13-14, 4-13 Big Ten) on Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.

Three days removed from a second-half meltdown against the Oregon Ducks, the Badgers responded in dominant fashion to return to the win column. The team built a double-digit edge by the 8:02-minute mark of the first half, then did not look back for the remainder of the contest.

Star wing John Tonje, who leads the Badgers with nearly 20 points per appearance this season, set the tone with seven points in the first seven minutes of action. Blackwell, who had not scored over 20 points in over a month, took the reigns from there.

The 2023-24 Big Ten All-Freshman Team honoree notched 17 points in roughly nine minutes of play to put a pin in UW’s impressive first half, propelling the team to a 15-point halftime edge.

From then on, it was all Wisconsin. The Badgers outscored the Huskies 45-34 in the second half, thanks to notable bench contributions from Kamari McGee, Jack Janicki and Xavier Amos. UW’s 17-point edge early in the second frame enabled Greg Gard to play the trio of second-unit contributors for a bulk of minutes, and they certainly capitalized.

The three combined for 29 points on the evening, 24 of which arrived in the final 20 minutes of action. Janicki, who dropped 11 points in Wisconsin’s consequential victory over Purdue on Feb. 15, scored all 11 of his points in the second frame.

From the jump, Washington simply didn’t offer an answer for what Wisconsin presented on both sides of the floor. The Badgers controlled the rebounding battle (41-26), tallied more assists (15-10) and did more damage in the painted area (42-32) en route to the 26-point win.

While Wisconsin did shoot 51.6% from the field, it shot just 33.3% from outside and 75% from the line. Washington’s inability to generate consistent offense, however, proved the difference.

Blackwell’s 24 points, 10…

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Source link : https://sports.yahoo.com/article/recap-john-blackwell-leads-wisconsin-040437182.html

Author : Badgers Wire

Publish date : 2025-02-26 04:04:00

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