Wisconsin basketball: Zak Showalter’s Career Day Leads Badgers to First Big Ten Win
The Wisconsin basketball team earned its firsts conference win
Junior Zak Showalter had a career game as the Wisconsin Badgers defeated the Rutgers Scarlet Knights 79-57 on Saturday in the Kohl Center.
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Showalter finished with a career-high 21 points on 8 of 8 shooting, including 3 of 3 from the three-point line. He also made his lone free throw in the game.
Starting backcourt teammate junior Bronson Koenig scored 14 points on 6 of 12 shooting with four assists. He was able to find his shot and knocked down jumpers, which is one of the best parts of his game. Koenig showed confidence running the point and committed just one turnover.
After shooting 38.6 percent from the field and 29.4 percent from three-point range against Purdue on Tuesday night, the Badgers finished with a 53.4 field-goal percentage, including 44.4 percent from deep.
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Wisconsin scored 34 points in the paint. Redshirt freshman Ethan Happ finished with 16 points on 7 of 8 shooting and 10 rebounds for his fifth double double of the season in just 21 minutes as he found himself in foul trouble once again. Junior Nigel Hayes had an off game, making 2 of his 7 shot attempts for eight points, but grabbed nine rebounds. Junior Vitto Brown shot 3 of 9 for eight points and four rebounds. The Badgers out-rebounded their opponent for the 14th time in 15 games this year as they secured 37 rebounds, while Rutgers grabbed 25 boards.
The Wisconsin basketball team improved to 9-6 overall and 1-1 in Big Ten play. The victory also marks the first conference victory for interim head coach Greg Gard, who is now 2-1 with the Badgers.
Wisconsin moved the ball well offensively in the first half, which concluded with a 42-31 lead for the Badgers heading into the locker room. Wisconsin used 10 players in the first half, including sophomore walk-on Aaron Moesch, who had appeared in just three games coming into the contest.
Three games into his head-coaching career, Gard has done a few things differently from Bo Ryan. Gard likes to use more players and goes deeper into the bench. Jordan Hill and Alex Illikainen have benefited the most from this. Gard also lets players play in the first half with two fouls. Happ re-entered in the first half with a pair of fouls, just like he did against Purdue.
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Wisconsin came out of the second half sluggish and missed their first seven shots from the floor. Wisconsin made its first field goal at the 12:37 mark, a three-point play from Showalter to spark the Badgers’ offense. After Rutgers cut the Badgers’ lead to 45-41 with 13:40 left, Wisconsin went on an 18-4 run to take a 63-45 lead with 6:47 remaining as the Badgers coasted to their first Big Ten victory.
The Badgers needed a win against an opponent like Rutgers, especially with their upcoming schedule. Wisconsin’s next four games include a road contests against Indiana and Northwestern and home games against Maryland and Michigan State. The Badgers will travel to Bloomington on Tuesday night.
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Stay tuned to Badger of Honor for more as the season unfolds.