The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team avenged their 22-point loss to the Scarlet Knights from earlier this season — hanging 78 points on a Rutgers team that entered the contest fourth in the country in defensive efficiency on KenPom. Instead, it was UW who put on a defensive show — forcing 18 turnovers and piling up 14 steals.
After an 11-game absence due to a sprained ankle, guard Kamari McGee returned Thursday and gave the Badgers added juice defensively. While he wouldn’t log a steal on the statsheet — much to his surprise — McGee was part of a key second half run, where a lineup of himself, guard John Blackwell, point guard Chucky Hepburn, forward Tyler Wahl and forward Steven Crowl outgained Rutgers 17–3 in six minutes of action.