Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Madison – Nigel Hayes attacked the basket, Zak Showalter contributed from everywhere else and Wisconsin rolled into the Big Ten conference season in impressive fashion.

Hayes scored 20 points, including 10 of 10 from the free-throw line, and Showalter added 18 as the 14th-ranked Badgers cruised past Rutgers, 72-52, on Tuesday night at the Kohl Center in the Big Ten opener for both teams.

The Badgers (12-2, 1-0) led by 21 points midway through the second half and then withstood a brief Rutgers rally from long range before pulling away down the stretch for their eighth consecutive victory.

“We kind of had a little bit of a stretch there where we weren’t as physical as we wanted to be and they were kind of beating us to some loose balls,” said Ethan Happ, who added 10 points and a game-high 11 rebounds. “I think we’re not where we want to be, but I think we’re trending in that direction.”

Wisconsin led, 33-18, at the half and quickly pushed it to 43-24 on Vitto Brown’s three-pointer. Khalil Iverson hit two free throws to put the Badgers in front, 47-26, but the Scarlet Knights answered with three-pointers on their next three possessions to pull within 49-35.

Bronson Koenig’s turnaround jumper put Wisconsin up, 53-38, but Rutgers answered with consecutive threes, cutting the lead to 53-44 on Nigel Johnson’s triple with 8:15 left.

Showalter then scored 10 points to fuel a 14-2 run as the Badgers jerked the lead back to 67-46 with 2:47 remaining.

“Guys just give me the ball in good positions,” said Showalter, who was 6 of 10 from the field and 4 of 5 from the line. “That’s pretty easy to do when you’ve got teammates like these guys finding you. Guys have been collapsing on them and obviously that presents opportunities.”

BOX SCORE: UW 72, Rutgers 52

Hayes continued his recent offensive efficiency, making 5 of 9 on shots, his sixth consecutive game above 50%, and drawing fouls when aggressively taking it to the rim.

“I think I’m going about my shots better,” said Hayes. “I don’t think I was necessarily taking bad shots too often. I just had to get in my flow and rhythm as far as the rest of the team goes. I think we’re settling in.”

Mike Williams had 18 points and Nigel Johnson 11 for Rutgers (11-3, 0-1), which shot just 31%. The Scarlet Knights were 19 of 62, including 7 of 18 from beyond the arc.

The Badgers took control early, scoring the first eight points and extending the lead to 13-2 on Showalter’s three-pointer from the left side with 14:18 remaining in the half.

Williams sandwiched a pair of threes around a one by Koenig to pull the Scarlet Knights within 22-16 with 5:07 left, but Wisconsin closed the half with an 11-2 run to make it 33-18 at the break.

"We got off to a bad start, turned the ball over 12 times and we were helping them. They don't need any help,” said Rutgers coach Steve Pikiell. “Tough game. Credit to Wisconsin. A lot of good players, a very hard team to prepare for in a couple days coming off Christmas break."

Wisconsin, which has won 13 of its last 14 conference openers, is off until back-to-back road games at No. 16 Indiana on Jan. 3 and No. 15 Purdue on Jan. 8.

"I think we've gotten better,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “Obviously, there's always room for improvement and we're in late December, so there should be. And, they understand that, that we've got to continue to get better because as we go through, we'll see more experienced teams. Everything will continue to improve in terms of the competition we'll play, so we obviously need to continue to improve ourselves."​