No. 24 Wisconsin takes a six-game winning streak to Los Angeles for a West Coast road swing, which tips off on Saturday at Southern California.
The Badgers (14-3, 4-2 Big Ten Conference) kept their streak intact on Tuesday despite squandering a 17-point halftime lead vs. Ohio State. Wisconsin overcame a 20-of-48 shooting performance (41.7 percent), including 5 of 22 (22.7 percent) from 3-point range to hold on for the 70-68 win.
“We know it’s Division I basketball and you’re not going to blow every team out even if you get up big,” Wisconsin forward Steven Crowl said, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “We know they’re going to make their run, it’s just about weathering it. It’s the sign of a good team when the shots aren’t falling tonight or there is foul trouble or you’re not guarding how you want, but you find a way to win in the end.”
Wisconsin’s winning streak includes its last four Big Ten games to rebound from an 0-2 start to conference play.
The Badgers make their inaugural swing into California for league play with Saturday’s visit to USC, followed by a game at UCLA on Tuesday.
USC (11-6, 3-3) played its best offensive game of the season Tuesday, shooting a torrid 64.9 percent from the floor in a 99-89 win over Iowa on Tuesday. Three Trojans scored at least 21 points: Desmond Claude with 25, Saint Thomas with 24 and Wesley Yates III with 21.
Tuesday marked Claude’s second consecutive productive outing, both in conference wins. His season-high 31 points paced USC to its signature win of the campaign thus far, an 82-72 road victory at then-No. 13 Illinois on Jan. 11. He leads the Trojans with 16.4 points per game.
“Everybody has continued to play hard and nobody gave up, even when things weren’t going our way early on,” Claude said in reference of previous losing skids of two and three games. “Everybody wanted to figure this out, so we kept practicing hard and sticking to our principles. That’s the thing I’m most proud of. We want to win, and we’re willing to do everything it takes.”
A part of doing what it takes, Trojans coach Eric Musselman said, is opening up more of the playbook. He credited USC’s offense the last two games to the team executing a more diverse set of plays, and the Trojans are now up to 77.5 points per game as a result.
The USC offense thrives with ball movement, reflected in 59.7 percent of their made field goals coming via assists – 39th-best nationally, per KenPom.com metrics.
Thomas, who dished nine assists vs. Iowa, is averaging 4.1 for the Trojans, while Claude has 4.2.
Wisconsin, meanwhile, is scoring 82.4 points per game, good for No. 34 nationally in advance of Friday’s games, and a stark contrast to Badgers teams of the past. Last season, Wisconsin averaged 74.7 points per game, and 65.3 in 2022-23.
John Tonje’s 18.2 points per game pace five Badgers in double-figures this season. John Blackwell is scoring 15.4 points a contest, and each of Nolan Winter, Max Klesmit and Crowl are posting just above 10 points an outing.
While the scoring surge this season is a deviation from Wisconsin teams of the past, a consistent factor is the Badgers style in producing wins. Coach Greg Gard reached 200 victories in his post with Tuesday’s win, making him the fourth coach in program history to reach that milestone.
–Field Level Media
