Looking to rebound from a poor effort at Florida, No. 20/22 Wisconsin (2-1) responded Sunday afternoon at the Kohl Center with a 73-40 victory over Cornell (1-3) in the first of two regional round games in the Las Vegas Invitational.
Just a few days removed from finding themselves down 9-0 minutes into the game against the Gators, the Badgers avoided a similar deficit against the Big Red. After allowing a Cornell basket on the opening possession, UW responded with a 14-0 run over the next 7:27 minutes that effectively ended any chance of a second straight defeat.
Facing questions about their depth in the face of the season-ending knee injury to projected starting point guard Josh Gasser, the Badgers had arguably their most balanced effort in the past two years as three players reached double figures and a full six players had at least six points.
Not one but two Badgers finished the evening with a double-double. Junior guard Ben Brust was the first to reach that mark, finishing with a team-high (along with senior forward Jared Berggren) 18 points and 12 rebounds on 6-of-13 shooting.
“He has a nose for the ball,” head coach Bo Ryan said of Brust. “He is just a gamer. He goes all-out.”
Senior forward Ryan Evans had his third career double-double, finishing with 12 points and 10 rebounds despite a shaky first half effort that resulted in just two points and three rebounds and only 11 minutes of court time.
“He is definitely capable,” Brust said. “It was good to see him get his confidence up. Knock down some shots, finish [around the basket] and pick up some boards.”
Wisconsin imposed its will on the outmatched Cornell team all night, forcing 18 turnovers and holding the Big Red to just 26 percent shooting.
“They are a heck of a defensive ball club,” Cornell head coach Bill Courtney said. “They don’t let you get anything near the basket.”
Freshman forward Sam Dekker once again provided a spark off the bench for UW. The Sheboygan, Wis., native finished with seven points and six rebounds, highlighted by a steal that resulted in a one-hand dunk right in front of the Grateful Red.
“I’ve just accepted my role more,” Dekker said. “And I am getting more comfortable coming off the bench.”
With three solid performances under his belt, Dekker seems comfortable enough to move along even at this early stage in his college career.
“The question you should be asking is whether I feel comfortable with him,” Ryan said. “He’s got things to learn... but its early.”
Though Sunday’s win was a much-needed bounce back for the Badgers, reoccurring issues remain on both ends of the floor. Wisconsin turned the ball over 16 times against Cornell while allowing a much smaller Big Red team to grab 11 offensive rebounds.
Those turnovers snapped a span of 69 consecutive games in which UW turned the ball over fewer than 14 teams and were the highest total since the Badgers turned it over 18 times in an overtime loss to UW-Green Bay in 2009.
“It’s a good thing that it happened early,” Brust said. “We have time to clean it up before we face some long athletic teams.”
But ahead of a difficult week of non-conference play, Sunday’s win was a positive improvement over the loss to Florida.
“This was the next 40 minutes,” Ryan said. “35 of it was pretty good but there were 5 or 6 minutes in there we think we can change.”
With another ranked opponent in Creighton waiting just a few days away, the Badgers have one more opportunity to improve when they take on Presbyterian Tuesday night at the Kohl Center.
