Wisconsin Basketball: Badgers Quickly Bounced From Big Ten Tournament by Nebraska Cornhuskers

The Wisconsin basketball team was bounced by Nebraska in round two of the Big Ten Tournament

A dismal first half for the Wisconsin basketball team didn’t get much better in the final 20 minutes as the Badgers saw their Big Ten Tournament start and end quickly in the second round with a 70-58 loss to the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

Wisconsin shot an abysmal 16-of-53 from the field, barely breaking the 30 percent mark at 30.2 percent on the night. The Badgers made just 4-of-19 attempts from three-point range (19 percent).

The Cornhuskers had their way with the Badgers defensively, limiting Nigel Hayes to a 2-of-15 night, Bronson Koenig to a 3-of-15 night, and Ethan Happ to a 5-of-11 performance.

The Badgers only saving grace was shooting 22-of-30 from the charity stripe, keeping them in the game long enough to have a chance at the end.

Shavon Shields, who missed the Badgers-Huskers matchup the first time around due to an injury, ripped off 20 points and nine rebounds to lead Nebraska. Glynn Watson Jr. scored 16 points off of the bench and Andrew White and Benny Parker each scored in double digits.

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Happ led the Badgers with 17 points and seven rebounds, while Vitto Brown scored 16 and added eight rebounds. Koenig finished with 11 points and Hayes had 10. Charlie Thomas hit one layup for the Badgers only bench points on the night.

Almost nothing went right for the Badgers in the first half. Happ, Hayes and Koenig combined for just eight points on just 2-of-15 from the field, with only Happ scoring away from the free throw line.

The Badgers committed seven turnovers and shot 29.2 percent from the field (7-of-24), but somehow managed to head into the half trailing by just five points, 26-21.

That’s because Brown single-handedly kept the Badgers in the game, knocking down all five of his shot attempts, including a trio of three-pointers, to score 13 of the Badgers 21 points.

Wisconsin did a decent job slowing down Shields in the first 20 minutes, but the Nebraska star still scored nine points as he got to the free throw line several times to go along with a couple of shots from the field.

As ugly as the first half finished, Wisconsin showed signs of life, clawed back and quickly took the lead at 29-27 just three minutes into the second half, getting a drive to the hoop from Happ and four points out of Hayes in the early going.