by MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Frank Kaminsky had 25 points on 10-for-15 shooting, Sam Dekker added 20 points and No. 6 Wisconsin became Big Ten regular season champions with a 76-63 victory over Minnesota on Thursday night.
Nigel Hayes had 12 points and nine rebounds for the Badgers (27-3, 15-2), who had at least a tie for first place already wrapped up last weekend. This is their fourth title under coach Bo Ryan and the first in seven years.
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The Badgers made seven of their first 10 attempts from 3-point range and finished with 18 assists against just nine turnovers.
Nate Mason had 15 points and Carlos Morris added 11 points for the Gophers (17-13, 6-11), who fell behind by 20 points in the first half and couldn’t fully recover.
Bronson Koenig (Ho-Chunk Nation) Scored 8 Points in his 37 minutes of play.
With the Big Ten not as strong as it was the last few years and the Gophers stuck in the bottom half of the conference standings all winter, this was the first buzzworthy game at the old barn this season. Ohio State, which was No. 22 in The Associated Press poll at the time, was the only other ranked team to visit. The Gophers furiously rallied that night to force overtime but fell 74-72.
Two months later, with seven losses in Big Ten play by six points or less still stinging, the Gophers brought some momentum into the final week of the schedule coming off a rare win on the road over Michigan State. But even an upset of the Badgers wasn’t going to be enough to put them in the NCAA Tournament conversation.
Perhaps reminded of their 81-68 loss here last year, their fourth defeat in the last five trips to Minnesota, the Badgers took immediate control. Confidently launching shots from anywhere behind the arc, the Badgers built a lead as big as 36-16 supplemented by some smooth, deliberate drives to the basket by Kaminsky and a couple of super-quick backdoor cuts for easy points by Dekker.
The Gophers were at a disadvantage in most of the one-on-one matchups, but they didn’t have much luck early with a bunch of clean looks at the basket leading to balls rimming out. Maybe Wisconsin grew a little lax after such a large lead, but the Gophers surged back before halftime with a 13-2 run. Andre Hollins, who sprained his left ankle last year just 16 seconds into the game here against the Badgers, hit an off-balance 3-pointer at the buzzer to bring them within 44-34.
Dekker started to miss some shots and Kaminsky was a bit banged up after landing hard on his lower body during one bruising sequence, and Mason’s swish from behind the arc cut the lead to six points shortly after the break.
That was as close as the Gophers came, though. The Badgers tacked on a few more timely 3-pointers. Kaminsky threw down a dunk to spoil an otherwise-stiff defensive effort by the Gophers on one possession near the midpoint of the second half, and the Badgers didn’t let up with the top spot in the conference in sight.
