No. 24 Wisconsin showed it boasts an impressive blend of veterans and newcomers in a stellar season-opening win.
The Badgers will try to build off that performance when they host Northern Illinois in a nonconference game Friday night in Madison, Wis.
The Badgers turned back a second-half rally and outscored Campbell 29-2 to finish the game for a 96-64 nonconference victory in their season opener Monday.
“Obviously, a lot that we’ll take from the game, both good and things that we have to get immensely better at,” said Wisconsin coach Greg Gard. “But I was happy with how we closed, specifically defensively there in the last seven, eight minutes.”
Wisconsin’s two returning starters, John Blackwell and 7-footer Nolan Winter, led the way in the opener. Blackwell had 31 points, one shy of his career high, and Winter contributed a double-double with 17 points and 12 rebounds.
The Badgers also got significant contributions from their newcomers. Point guard Nick Boyd, a graduate student who transferred from San Diego State after three seasons at Florida Atlantic, had 21 points, and 6-foot-10 forward Austin Rapp, the West Coast Conference’s Freshman of the Year last season with Portland, added 13 points.
Wisconsin has eight newcomers to the team that went 27-10 last season and lost to BYU 91-89 in the second round of the NCAA Tournament.
The Badgers, who led the nation in free-throw shooting las season with 82.6%, were 17 of 19 from the line against Campbell. Wisconsin also finished 50.7% from the field and committed just nine turnovers, including one over the final 11:30.
“At times, we have water in our gas tank, meaning we sputter and then we catch fire, and then we sputter,” Gard said. “And that’s both ends of the court.”
Northern Illinois opened with a 102-82 victory at home over UL Monroe on Monday.
Northern Illinois, 6-25 last season, used a balanced attack to get past the Warhawks. All 16 players on the Huskies’ roster are new, including five with Division I experience and seven freshmen.
“I wanted to go out and get a clean slate of guys who got a chip on their shoulders,” Northern Illinois coach Rashon Burno told the DeKalb Daily Chronicle afterward. “The last two years have been a huge disappointment from the win total. (We’re) coming in with a clean slate and hungry guys that don’t know what last year’s team went through.”
Jao Ituka, who transferred from Jacksonville State after two seasons at Wake Forest, came off the bench for a team-high 19 points against UL Monroe, hitting 4 of 8 shots from deep.
Gustav Winther and Gianni Cobb each posted a double-double. Winther, a 6-foot-10 freshman and native of Denmark, had 18 points and 10 rebounds. Cobb, a transfer from Columbia, had 14 points with 10 assists and no turnovers.
Makhai Valentine, a Missouri State transfer, added 16 points and eight rebounds.
Northern Illinois pounded UL Monroe 44-18 on the boards that led to a 31-10 advantage in second-chance points.
