Wisconsin’s struggles away from Madison have been well documented to start the season.
At the Kohl Center, Wisconsin was undefeated and scoring 80 points-per-game. On the road, the offense has struggled, averaging only 56.8 per-game.
But, after a trip to Knoxville, the Badgers (1-1 Big Ten, 7-5 overall) finally broke through, catching fire early to earn a quality non-conference win over the Tennessee Volunteers (0-0 SEC, 8-4) by a final of 68-48.
Junior guard D’Mitrik Trice led the way for Wisconsin with 21 points, leading UW for the second straight game after scoring 30 in the win against UW-Milwaukee. Senior guard Brevin Pritzl added 17 points off the bench, going 4-for-8 from three including a stretch of three in a row late in the first half to extend the Badgers’ lead.
From the tip, Wisconsin flipped the script on their road shooting woes. The Badgers shot 50 percent from the field by halftime, including 53 percent from three. Meanwhile, the defense held the Vols to 35 percent shooting and forced 17 turnovers en route to their wire-to-wire win.
Freshman forward Tyler Wahl hit a buzzer beating layup just before halftime to put the Badgers up 38-24.
Then Wisconsin went on a 11-0 run after the break and didn’t let Tennessee score again until a free throw with 13:36 left in the game, silencing the sold out crowd at Thompson-Boling Arena and earning their first victory away from Madison all season.
The road victory couldn’t have come at a better time for Wisconsin. The Badgers face Big Ten tests at No. 2 Ohio State, at No. 20 Penn State, at No. 17 Michigan State, at Purdue and at No. 25 Iowa in January.
But before that gauntlet, the Badgers host the Rider Broncos (1-0 MAAC, 7-3) at the Kohl Center on Dec. 31.
