The Wisconsin Badgers blew out the Marquette Golden Eagles 96-76 to reclaim the I-94 rivalry stronghold, getting out to another hot start and finishing strong in another big win.
Wisconsin got another huge performance from John Blackwell, who now has scored at least 30 points in two of his last three games, while every starter got into double figures. Aleksas Bieliauskas earned his second straight start, getting 11 points and 10 rebounds in a career-high 27 minutes of action.
Defensively, the Badgers
held a fast-paced Marquette offense to just 42 percent from the field and 31 percent from three, with leading scorer Chase Ross limited to just 12 points on 4/13 shooting.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 96-76 win over Marquette on Saturday.
Blackwell surge
John Blackwell has been on a heater the last three games, getting 86 points during that stretch. Saturday marked his third 30-point game of the season, and he did so with great efficiency, hitting six three-pointers, while getting to the free-throw line 10 times.
Blackwell continues to just find his spots, while we’re seeing him take threes at a higher volume than he did a year ago. It’s a good sign that he’s been a three-level scorer, getting to the free throw line while also hitting threes at a good clip.
Efficiency was always a question mark with the increased volume, and Blackwell is still figuring that out, coming into Saturday shooting just over 40 percent from the field.
But, he had a 30-ball on just 17 shots on Saturday, which is a good sign going forward.
New frontcourt
It was a bit of a surprise when Wisconsin went from Austin Rapp to Aleksas Bieliauskas for their second frontcourt spot alongside Nolan Winter.
Rapp was struggling to start the year. His shot selection was questionable, but it was more on the defensive end where the questions arose.
So far, the change from Greg Gard has been a good one. Bieliauskas played a career-high 20 minutes against Northwestern on Wednesday before seeing 27 minutes against Marquette on Saturday. Both performances had some very good moments.
It felt like Bieliauskas was key as a paint defender early in the first half, and you could see the results as a whole from Marquette’s efficiency. The Golden Eagles shot under 37 percent inside the arc in the first half.
In 27 minutes, Bieliauskas had 11 points, shooting 4 of 4 from the field and 3 of 3 from deep. He also hauled in a career-high 10 rebounds, with three coming on the offensive glass.
Nolan Winter had a quality day by his side with 13 points and 13 rebounds, including three offensive boards of his own. Rapp has been a key player off the bench as a scorer, but Greg Gard may have found something with his new frontcourt.
Efficiency
It was a faster-paced game for the Badgers, but I thought the efficiency really stood out on all fronts.
Wisconsin hit 14 threes at a 42.4 percent clip, which has been a recipe for success for them. They got to the free throw line 29 times, hitting 24 of those, with John Blackwell getting there 10 times himself.
But, they also had their opportunities inside the arc, hitting 75 percent of their layups and shooting 53.5 percent inside the arc. That led to a 1.28 points per possession mark and 96 points on the afternoon.
When Wisconsin is struggling, it’s usually because it isn’t shooting the three-ball well. That wasn’t the case on Saturday, as the Badgers shot a high volume of threes and hit at a well-above-average rate.
