With an 85-66 victory over the 14-seeded Montana Grizzlies Thursday afternoon in Denver, Colorado, the Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team is moving on to the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32.
An already memorable season for the men’s basketball team will continue through this weekend. The No. 3-seeded Badgers, who have scored at efficient paces all season, built points effectively throughout the afternoon while playing solid enough defense to propel them to the next round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Badgers, who have hovered around the top of the Big Ten and have reached the upper echelon of college basketball through their consistent success, handled business in Denver in a tournament known for its utter unpredictability. They will now play the No. 6-seeded BYU on Saturday.
Sophomore guard John Blackwell set Wisconsin’s pace throughout the afternoon, scoring 19 points on 7-12 shooting, grabbing five rebounds, dishing out three assists and snatching two steals. Forward Steven Crowl scored 18 points on an efficient 8-10 shooting day, with four rebounds and two assists. John Tonje, Wisconsin’s star player through much of the season, scored 15 points with four rebounds and an assist, shooting a perfect 9-9 from the free-throw line. Nolan Winter also scored 10 points, with six rebounds.
Off the bench, forward Xavier Amos scored 11 points, while Carter Gilmore added eight, providing Wisconsin a major boost.
For Montana, Te’Jon Sawyer led the way with 15 points, eight rebounds and two assists. Kai Johnson also scored 15 points, with two rebounds and two assists.
Montana came into Thursday’s game without a player over 6-foot-9, and the Badgers sure enough capitalized on the Grizzlies’ disadvantage. Leading 40-32 at halftime, Wisconsin had scored 20 points in the paint, going 8-11 on lay-ups, and Crowl, the Badgers’ tallest player, scored 10 first-half points.
Meanwhile, the Badgers held Montana’s top scorer, Money Williams, to scoreless, only having allowed him one attempted one shot.
“We were able to establish the paint early — I thought that was important, [to] take advantage of things in there,” Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard said after the game.
In the beginning of the second half, the Grizzlies got the score to within four at the 18:44 mark. But Wisconsin quickly answered with a Crowl jumper, Nolan Winter layup and a made jumper, lay-up and free-throw from Blackwell, giving the Badgers a 49-40 lead two minutes later.
The Grizzlies then got within four points again after a Williams lay-up made it 51-47 with 15:14 to go.
But Carter Gilmore scored five straight points, Winter connected on a three and the Badgers soon had a 12-point lead with 13:13 remaining. For the rest of the game, the determined Badgers kept Montana in check, eventually leaving Thursday’s game with a fulfilling victory.
