Badgers Down Rutgers 70-62 For First Road Win
December 04, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Senior forward Mike Wilkinson scored 15 of his career-high 26 points in the second half as the Wisconsin men's basketball team picked up its first road win of the season Saturday night, defeating Rutgers 70-62.
The Badgers improve to 4-1 overall with the victory, while Rutgers falls to 2-2.
UW jumped out of the gates early. After the Scarlet Knight scored the first basket of the game, Wisconsin went on a 16-4 run to take a 16-6 lead with 14:33 remaining in the opening half. A jumper by Wilkinson with 13:49 left in the half put UW up 18-9, but the Badgers did not score over the next eight minutes and 10 seconds.
Fortunately, Wisconsin was able to hold Rutgers in check over the drought as the visitors were still able to maintain the lead. The Badgers would eventually take a 29-23 lead into halftime, aided by coverting seven Rutgers turnovers into 11 points.
Leading 30-25 just under a minute into the second half, UW used a 12-4 spurt to surge ahead 42-29 with 16 minutes left. The Scarlet Knights responded immediately with an 8-0 run of its own to get back within 42-37.
However, that would be as close as Rutgers would get. Wilkinson would take the Badgers on his back as he scored 11 consecutive points for the Badgers during one stretch.
Wisconsin hit on 60.9 percent of its shots in the second half (14 of 23). Sharif Chambliss, earning his first start of the season for UW, scoring 14 points including knocking down four three-pointers. Zach Morley chipped in with eight points and nine rebounds.
The Badgers return to action at 7 p.m. Tuesday when they host UW-Green Bay at the Kohl Center.
