Host Wisconsin canned 10 first-half 3-pointers and placed six players in double figures in scoring Thursday night in an 88-70 nonconference win over in-state rival Green Bay in Madison.
Nate Reuvers paced the Badgers (4-1) with a game-high 19 points, while Brad Davison added 15 despite playing only 24 minutes after tweaking an ankle in the first half. Kobe King and Aleem Ford scored 12 points apiece.
D'Mitrik Trice stuffed the stat sheet with 11 points, eight rebounds and seven assists. Brevin Pritzl came off the bench to net 10 points as Wisconsin finished with 15 treys in 31 attempts, just two makes from tying the school record.
Four players reached double figures for the Phoenix (1-3), led by reserve Amari Davis with 16 points in just 23 minutes. JayQuan McCloud contributed 13 points and six assists, while Cody Schwartz came off the bench to tally 12 points. PJ Pipes scored 10.
Green Bay shot 47.5 percent from the field and committed just nine turnovers, numbers that normally give a mid-major a good chance against a Power 5 team. But with the Badgers hitting nearly 52 percent from the field and owning the boards 39-25, the Phoenix never led.
Wisconsin wasted little time establishing its physical superiority. Reuvers started the game with a 3-point play and the Badgers led 8-0 after only 66 seconds, Davison's 3-pointer prompting Green Bay coach Linc Darner to call an early timeout.
Darner would use two more before the half was up, so helpless were the Phoenix to stop Wisconsin's half-court sets. Without scoring a single fast-break point, the Badgers simply thumped the visitors with crisp execution and precise shooting.
It was 16-4 at the first TV timeout, and although Green Bay drew within six points as late as the 7:44 mark of the half, Wisconsin promptly rattled off the next 11 points.
Pritzl's 3-ball that beat the halftime horn gave the Badgers a 51-29 advantage.
--Field Level Media
