The Badgers got off to a strong start, something that has eluded them for most of the season so far, jumping out to an early lead that they never relinquished. UCF is a good team with a win against top-25 team this season, but looked overmatched all night against Wisconsin.
Backup point guard Kamari McGee had his breakout game of the season, scoring 14 points on 5 of 6 from the field. It seems like every night someone new has a breakout performance from Max Klesmit to John Tonje and now McGee. This is fun team to watch on the offensive side of the ball.
The offense was rolling, and despite a mediocre 32% from beyond the arc, the Badgers set a season high with 21 assists. It was the first time in program history that the team has scored at least 79 points in their first six games. It was encouraging to see that even on an off night from deep, they found other ways to score.
Not everything went perfectly, though, as Wisconsin had a very sloppy end to the first half, going just 2-for-11 over the last four minutes. Still, this team has shown time and time again that they can score the ball in different ways and with different guys. John Blackwell led the way in scoring tonight with Tonje, McGee and Nolan Winter also in double-digits.
With Steven Crowl in foul trouble all night, Winter really stepped up and added quality minutes. Along with his 13 points, he added 10 boards. It was probably the best team win the Badgers have had all season, getting production from everyone all the way down the bench.
With just a little over a minute remaining, fans were treated to a rare Daniel Freitag and Jack Robison sighting. The freshman duo has hardly played this year, but Robison stepped into a three and drained it as the bench went wild. Hopefully, they can continue to progress and see the court more and more.
Wisconsin will now take on Pittsburgh in the Greenbriar championship game.