PISCATAWAY, N.J. - Wisconsin claimed its first road win of the season and its second-straight conference victory with a 75-63 win at Rutgers. The Badgers (12-3, 2-2) never trailed on the night, riding 21 points from John Blackwell and Steven Crowl's first double-double of the season.

For Blackwell, this marks back-to-back big efforts after scoring a career-high 32 points in Friday's win over Iowa. Crowl finished with 18 points and 10 rebounds, while John Tonje scored 15 points, with 13 coming in the second half.

The Badger offense was in full swing to begin the game, scoring their first 16 points in the paint, with 10 of those coming in transition.

Wisconsin's lead peaked in the first half at 16, leading 33-17 with five minutes to go. The two teams ended the first half hot, with UW making 11 of their last 12 shots. The Badgers led at intermission, 43-34.

Seven Badger turnovers during the first 10 minutes of the second half allowed Rutgers to climb back into the game, pulling with 58-55 with 7:00 to go.

UW then went on a 15-4 run during the next six minutes of game time, with Rutgers going 2-for-12 during that stretch. The Badgers hit their free throws at the end of the game, with Blackwell scoring the final six points for UW.

Wisconsin outshot Rutgers in the field, 54.4% (31-for-57) to 34.2% (25-for-73). Additionally the Badgers outscored the Scarlet Knights 38-to-28 in the paint. 
 

Notable:

• UW became the first team to defeat Rutgers at Jersey Mike's Arena this season. 

• Wisconsin shot 54.4% from the field (31-for-57). After shooting 64.5% in last Friday's win over Iowa, UW has now shot over 50% in back-to-back Big Ten games for the first time since Jan. 2 and Jan. 6, 2024 versus Iowa and Nebraska, respectively.

• Wisconsin has not lost when shooting over 50% from the field since Jan. 11, 2019 against Purdue – That's 32 games.

• Wisconsin hit 10 consecutive shots during a stretch late in the first half. Six different players scored during a streak that included five 3-pointers.

• Graduate student Steven Crowl posted 18 points (8-for-11) and grabbed 10 rebounds, posting his first double-double of the season and 12th of his career. 

• Graduate student John Tonje finished with 15 points on 6-for-12 shooting and collected 9 rebounds.

• Tonje scored 13 of his 15 points in the second half. No other player reached double digit scoring in either half.

• Tonje has scored in double figures in 14 of 15 games this season.

Quotable:

Sophomore John Blackwell (on the victory): "This game shows the maturity and leadership we have on this team. They went on their runs, the crowd got into it, and we never wavered, never went away. We showed our pace and finished it the right way."
 

Up Next:

Wisconsin returns home to face Minnesota on Friday, Jan. 10 at the Kohl Center. Tip is set for 6 p.m. (CT), and streams on Peacock.