MADISON, Wis. - Thanks to a 24-point and 10 rebound effort by John Blackwell, the No. 11 Wisconsin men's basketball team cruised past Washington, 88-62 on Tuesday night at the Kohl Center. 

Wisconsin brought the offense to both halves of the game, shooting 51.6% from the field, and leading during the majority of the contest.

John Blackwell finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds to secure his first career double-double. Steven Crowl added in 12 points and four assists. John Tonje (13 points) and Xavier Amos (11 points) both chipped in double-figure scoring. 

Wisconsin began its march to victory early on. The Badgers created first half turnovers through denying post looks and picking off passes. Wisconsin turned defense into offense, forcing seven turnovers in the first frame, and scoring on the extra possessions.

The Badgers began knocking down shots late in the first half. Blackwell guided the Badgers to a double-digit lead, scoring off lay-ups, jumpers, and the 3-ball. He finished with 19 first-half points and put the Badgers up 43-28 at intermission.

A strong showing from the bench continued Wisconsin's momentum in the second half. Hustle plays from Kamari McGee, and 3-pointers from Jack Janicki and Xavier Amos allowed the Badgers to outscore the Huskies, 45-34 in the second.

The bench finished the game with 33 points for the game. Amos, McGee and Janicki all finished with at least six points in the second half alone.

Wisconsin successfully scored at the rim, breaking out tough layups on fast breaks and post looks. The Badgers finished the night with 42 points in the paint, with Crowl scoring 12 of them.

The Badger are now 22-6 on the season, with a 12-5 mark in conference play.
 

Notable:

• The Badgers went 6-1 during the month of February, winning by an average of 14.3 (+60 in 5 games) points during that streak. The last time UW won 6 games in Feb. was the 2021- 22 season (6-2 record).

• With the 26-point win, Wisconsin has now tallied 5 conference wins this season by 20+ points, matching the most in program history. The only other season UW posted five 20+ Big Ten wins was 2003-04. The Badgers became the first Big Ten team this season to record 5 wins of 20+ points in conference action. 

• UW shot 10-for-30 from deep, the 17th time the Badgers have hit double-digit triples (14-3 in such games), the most in the Big Ten.

• Sophomore John Blackwell tallied his first career double-double with 24 points and 10 rebounds, going 4-for-7 from 3-point range.

• Graduate Student Steven Crowl appeared in his 100th career win at Wisconsin, becoming just the 8th Badger to reach the century mark.

• Junior Xavier Amos scored 12 points, his most as a Badger and just his second time in double figures. Amos shot 4-for-5 from the field and 3-for-4 from deep.

 

Quotable:

Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard on responding to Saturday's loss: "From start to finish, everybody got in and got aggressive. We were in attack mode from start to finish. I'll go through the film and look at the possessions, but I don't think we ever really relented or backed off, even when we had a large lead. It was a mindset in all of the timeouts to continue to attack and play aggressively."

John Blackwell on the team's offensive ability without 3s: "It shows how dynamic we are and the confidence we have in each other. It shows that we can score without threes, play great defense and get transition buckets. We just have to keep doing it."

Xavier Amos on his role: "I want to be able to come in and have an impact in any way I can defensively or offensively. Tonight I just happened to be scoring and I was feeling it."

Jack Janicki on the team's rebounding: "It was really an emphasis to track down rebounds especially with two big guys who can really get after it."
 

Up Next: 

Wisconsin hits the road for No. 8 Michigan State this Sunday. Tip is set for 12:30 p.m. CT and the game will air nationally on CBS.