The Wisconsin Badgers had their best performance of the early season on Tuesday, beating the Fairfield Stags 89-42 in a massive blowout at the Kohl Center.
After falling behind 4-0, the Badgers went on a huge 22-point run, and they dominated the game from there, as they blew out Fairfield by 47.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s third win of the season on Tuesday night.
Fast start
As mentioned above, after that 4-0 early deficit, the Badgers went on a scoring spree, going on a 22-0 run.
That lead then extended to 38-8, as the Badgers ended up leading by 32 at halftime.
It was a really good start on both ends by the Badgers. It started on the defensive end, where the Badgers forced a ton of early turnovers, resulting in 19 fastbreak points, as Wisconsin ran the floor and kept the pace up.
Eian Elmer had a really strong first half with 12 points on 3-for-4 from the field, and we saw some of the aggressiveness that was lacking at times last game. Wisconsin was also cleaner along the rim, but this was the type of game we wanted to see after two up-and-down games to start the season where starts had been an issue.
The Badgers took any question out of this one early, and ended up winning big.
Bench production
Coming into the game, I said one of my big questions was the bench rotation and production. Well, we got a lot of that on Tuesday, and it came early as well.
Zach Kinziger and Austin Rapp each had seven points in the first half alone, while Will Garlock added six points and Jackson Ball added four. Jack Janicki also had some positive moments off the bench with a pair of assists, and we saw all four of them play a solid amount early.
Overall, Rapp led all scorers with 15 points, while the Badgers had 47 bench points and a strong overall performance from the backups.
Wisconsin is still tinkering a bit with its rotations, but it was a good sign to see the bench production pop out on Tuesday.
Nolan Winter
If there was anyone who struggled on Tuesday night, it was star center Nolan Winter, who finished with two points and five rebounds.
Winter was expected to take a bigger role in the offense this season, but he’s had a very slow start to the season so far. A part of it is getting into an offensive rhythm, but the center also needs to assert himself more and be aggressive.
After a very strong junior campaign, it feels like he should improve with time, and Winter didn’t play heavy minutes on Tuesday. But the Badgers need him to be better going forward as they face more appropriate matchups to dissect for the big man.
