There was a lot that went well for the Badgers in their blowout win on Thursday.
The Wisconsin Badgers advanced to the round of 32 with a solid 85-66 win over the Montana Grizzlies, with John Blackwell leading all Badger scorers for the second-straight game with 19 points.
One key to defeating Montana and avoiding an upset in Denver was taking advantage of the Grizzlies’ lack of size. For the most part, Wisconsin did that by attacking the paint on dribble drives and feeds down low in the post. While the Badgers won the points-in-the-paint battle 38-34, it could have been more had the team not settled for threes.
Wisconsin also had a great defensive showing, as Montana shot 39.7 percent from the field. The Badgers dominated on the boards by a 40-29 margin, including a 32-20 edge in defensive rebounds, and blocked six shots in the win.
Despite the Badgers getting three-point shot-happy in the second half, there isn’t much to complain about in a 19-point win. The Badgers did what they had to do against a spirited but undersized Montana team. Up next is a six-seed BYU basketball squad, one of the best offensive teams in the Big 12 Conference.
Here are three standouts from Wisconsin’s win over Montana:
Steven Crowl
Crowl finished with four points and six rebounds against Michigan in the Big Ten tournament championship. For Wisconsin to succeed on Thursday, they needed their fifth-year forward to have a dominant showing against the Grizzlies post defenders.
Crowl accomplished that by finishing with 18 points on 8/10 from the field. In addition, the big man finished two-of-three from behind the three-point line. It was a much-needed bounce-back performance. One that keeps the Badgers’ season alive.
Xavier Amos
Of all Badger bench players, Amos finished with the most points with 11. It was Amos’ highest point total since Wisconsin’s win over Washington on February 25th.
Amos had been on a cold scoring stretch since that showing against Washington, scoring 12 points total. Like Crowl, the Badgers relied on their height and strength down low to defeat the Grizzlies, and Amos shined in that area on Thursday afternoon with 11 points, four rebounds, and two assists.
His only three-pointer capped off a 17-5 second-half Badger run to stretch Wisconsin’s lead to 17 points and force a Montana timeout.
Carter Gilmore
The Grizzlies started to claw back into the game after the halftime break by cutting the Badgers lead to four points twice. With 15 minutes left, Gilly James drilled a big three-pointer to quell the Grizzlies’ momentum and shush the Denver crowd.
On the following Montana possession, Gilmore drew Joe Pridgen’s fourth foul of the game with a charge. That sequence swung the game back in the Badgers’ favor. Gilmore finished with eight points and tied Nolan Winter with a game-high six rebounds in the Wisconsin victory.