Wisconsin 75, American 35: Traevon Jackson scored 11 of his 18 points in the second half as the Badgers ran away from the Eagles after intermission in an NCAA tournament West Region second-round game in Milwaukee.
Ben Brust shot 4-for-7 from 3-point range and scored 17 points for second-seeded Wisconsin (27-7), which will play seventh-seeded Oregon in Saturday’s third round. Sam Dekker added 11 points and a team-high six rebounds for the Badgers, who shot 57.7 percent from the field in the second half.
John Schoof and Tony Wroblicky scored 11 points apiece to lead 15th-seeded American (20-13), which finished second in the Patriot League during the regular season after being picked to finish ninth and then won the conference tournament to make the program’s third appearance in the NCAA tournament. Jesse Reed added nine points as the starters accounted for all of the scoring for American.
Wisconsin got off to a fast start but then hit a lull while still early the first half, going nearly six minutes without a point as the Eagles moved ahead 17-10. The Badgers collected themselves and ended the first half on a 9-0 run to take a 32-22 halftime lead.
Wisconsin continued to pull away in the second half, using a 14-2 surge in the first six minutes to take a 46-24 advantage. The Badgers ended up outscoring the Eagles 43-13 in the second half.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Badgers improved to 26-18 all-time in the NCAA tournament. … The only other year Wisconsin was seeded this high was 2007, when the Badgers beat Texas A&M - Corpus Christi in the opener but then lost to UNLV in the second round. … The Badgers have won their NCAA tournament opener in seven of the last eight years.
American U. | Wisconsin | |
John Schoof 11 | Scoring | Traevon Jackson 18 |
Tony Wroblicky 4 | Assists | Josh Gasser 4 |
Darius Gardner 8 | Rebounds | Sam Dekker 6 |
Tony Wroblicky 5 | Free Throws Made | Josh Gasser 4 |
John Schoof 2 | Steals | Sam Dekker 2 |
N/A | Blocks | Nigel Hayes 1 |
Team | Points | FG% | 3PM-3PA | FTM-FTA | Assists | Rebounds | Blocks | Steals | Turnovers |
American U. | 35 | 29.7 | 4-15 | 9-15 | 8 | 23 | 0 | 5 | 17 |
Wisconsin | 75 | 50.0 | 10-23 | 13-14 | 13 | 29 | 1 | 9 | 7 |