John Blackwell scored 24 points and Nick Boyd added 22 as No. 23 Wisconsin pulled away in the second half for a 94-69 victory over SIU Edwardsville in a nonconference game on Monday night in Madison, Wis.
The Badgers shot 15 of 39 from 3-point range as Blackwell hit 5 of 6 and Boyd canned 4 of 7. Austin Rapp added 15 points and three blocks for Wisconsin (4-0).
Arnas Sakenis’ jumper to open the second half pulled SIUE within 48-43, but the Badgers answered with a 16-0 run as Boyd’s pair of free throws made it 64-43 with 14:56 remaining. Wisconsin led comfortably the rest of the way.
Jordan Pickett had 12 points and Myles Thompson and Jo Valrie added 10 apiece for SIUE (3-2), which entered allowing 58.3 points per game.
Neither Pickett nor Thompson scored in the second half. Ring Malith, who entered with a team-best 17.8 points per game, was held to six points due to foul trouble.
Wisconsin, which led the nation last season in free-throw shooting at 82.6%, hit 21 of 24 from the line. The Badgers had 19 assists on 29 field goals and had a 26-4 advantage in points off turnovers.
SIUE, which made its NCAA Tournament debut last season, dropped to 0-12 against Top 25 opponents since moving to Division I in 2008.
The Cougars took a 13-10 lead as Wisconsin hit just 3 of its first 11 shots, including 1 of 8 beyond the arc.
The Badgers then hit four 3-pointers for a 12-2 run to go in front 22-15. Boyd’s 3-pointer from the top put Wisconsin up 31-21 with just under eight minutes left in the half.
SIUE shot 56.7% in the first half to stay within 48-41 at the break. Pickett and Thompson combined to hit 9 of 14 shots for 22 first-half points.
–Field Level Media
