National Basketball Association
Wisconsin 76, Minnesota 63
When: 7:00 PM ET, Thursday, March 5, 2015
Where: Williams Arena, Minneapolis, Minnesota
Officials:
# Brian Dorsey, # John Gaffney, # Paul Szelc
Attendance:
14625
By SportsDirect Inc.
No. 5 Wisconsin 76, Minnesota 63: Frank Kaminsky had 25 points, seven assists and six rebounds as the Badgers defeated the Golden Gophers to win the Big Ten title.
Sam Dekker added 20 points and six rebounds as Wisconsin (27-3, 15-2) won for the 13th time in 14 games. Nigel Hayes contributed 12 points and nine rebounds and the Badgers went 10-of-20 from 3-point range.
Nate Mason scored 15 points and Carlos Morris added 11 for Minnesota (17-13, 6-11). Maurice Walker collected 11 rebounds while the Golden Gophers lost for the fourth time in five games.
Minnesota trailed 54-47 after Walker’s basket with 10:14 to play before the Badgers began to pull away with the next five points as Kaminsky’s dunk made it a 12-point margin with 8:01 to go. A three-point play by Dekker made it 67-51 with 4:41 remaining and the Golden Gophers pulled within 10 before Bronson Koenig scored five straight points to give Wisconsin a 74-59 lead with 1:35 left.
The Badgers scored the first seven points and led 22-10 on Duje Dukan’s 3-pointer with 11:31 left in the first half. Hayes’ basket pushed Wisconsin’s lead to 36-16 with 6:30 remaining before Minnesota moved closer with 10 straight points and trailed 44-34 entering the break.
GAME NOTEBOOK: The Big Ten regular-season title is Wisconsin’s fourth under coach Bo Ryan but its first since 2008. … Minnesota leading scorer Andre Hollins was held to five points and had just seven on 3-of-17 shooting in two games against Wisconsin this season. … Dekker fell two points shy of matching his career high.
Top Game Performances
Wisconsin |
|
Minnesota |
Frank Kaminsky 25 |
Scoring |
Nate Mason 15 |
Frank Kaminsky 7 |
Assists |
Andre Hollins 4 |
Nigel Hayes 9 |
Rebounds |
Maurice Walker 11 |
Sam Dekker 5 |
Free Throws Made |
Carlos Morris 3 |
Frank Kaminsky 2 |
Steals |
Charles Buggs 1 |
Josh Gasser 2 |
Blocks |
Joey King 1 |
Team Stats Summary
Team |
Points |
FG% |
3PM-3PA |
FTM-FTA |
Assists |
Rebounds |
Blocks |
Steals |
Turnovers |
Wisconsin
|
76 |
50.0 |
10-20 |
10-12 |
18 |
29 |
5 |
3 |
9 |
Minnesota
|
63 |
41.0 |
6-16 |
7-9 |
12 |
31 |
3 |
5 |
8 |