MADISON, Wis. – Steven Crowl scored 18 points and John Tonje added 16 for Wisconsin on Friday night, helping the Badgers beat Minnesota 80-59 for their fourth straight victory.
Kamari McGee added 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and three steals for Wisconsin (13-3, 3-2 Big Ten).
The Badgers have won eight straight games against Minnesota and 17 of the last 19.
Dawson Garcia made two free throws to open the scoring 40 seconds into the second half and give the Gophers a one-point lead, but Nolan Winter answered with a 3-pointer 15 seconds later, sparking a 13-2 run which culminated with John Blackwell and Crowl making consecutive 3s to give Wisconsin a 43-33 lead.
Garcia and Lu’cye Patterson made back-to-back layups to cut Minnesota’s deficit to six in the second half. Tonje converted a three-point play and Crowl made a 3-pointer to push the lead into double figures for good and spark a 22-3 run that made it 67-43 when Markus Ilver made 3-pointers 32 seconds apart hit.
Minnesota (8-8) is 0-5 in conference play for the first time since the Gophers lost their first 13 Big Ten games in 2015-16.
Garcia led the Gophers with 22 points and 10 rebounds, his fourth double-double this season.
Wisconsin shot 57.7% (15 of 26) from the field, 8 of 15 (53.3%) from three-point range in the second half.
Garcia, Patterson and Femi Odukale each hit a 3-pointer to help Minnesota jump out to a 15-5 lead about 5 1/2 minutes into the game. The Badgers answered with a 10-0 run, capped by five straight points from Crowl, and Tonje hit a 3-pointer with 7:59 left before halftime, giving Wisconsin its first lead at 18-17.
