(UW ATHLETICS) MADISON – Led by a 27-point double-double from Nick Boyd, the No. 24 Wisconsin men’s basketball team surged past Iowa, 84-71, on Sunday at the Kohl Center.
The New York native nearly recorded a triple-double, finishing with 27 points, nine rebounds and a career-high 10 assists. Nolan Winter poured in 18 points on an efficient 8-of-11 shooting, while hauling in five boards. John Blackwell added 13 points, going a perfect 8-of-8 from the charity stripe.
Badgers coach Greg Gard talked about the win.
Iowa (19-8, 9-7 Big Ten) took an early lead, before UW sparked a 10-0 at the halfway mark of the first period. Winter capped off the spurt with a slam as the UW (19-8, 11-5 Big Ten) defense held Iowa without a field goal for over 5 minutes.
The battle continued with each team making runs of their own at the four-minute media timeout. Both came out cold from the stoppage, both going on scoring droughts into the locker room with Iowa up 41-40. Winter and Boyd carried the load in the first, combining for 29 of UW’s 40 points. Boyd had 15 points, while Winter added 14.
UW exploded out of the halftime break on a 11-0 run. Blackwell and Bieliauskas spearheaded the surge, getting their first buckets of the day. Iowa continued to crawl back until an Austin Rapp and-one brought the Kohl Center to life at the 8-minute media timeout. UW used the energy to rip off a 12-2 run with under four minutes remaining, led by two Rapp triples.
Rapp said that he was able to get back into it after a second bout with the flu.
Winter said that he and Rapp combining to go 6 for 8 from distance, helps the offense.
Gard talked about how Rapp has developed this season.
The Badgers didn’t look back from there, smothering Iowa in the final four minutes to earn the double digit win.
Up Next: The Badgers will head west to take on Oregon on Wednesday night. Tip in Eugene is set for 10 p.m. CT
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