MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Steven Crowl scored 18 points and John Tonje added 16 for Wisconsin on Friday night to help the Badgers beat Minnesota 80-59 for their fourth win in a row.
Kamari McGee added 15 points, including three 3-pointers, and three steals for Wisconsin (13-3, 3-2 Big Ten).
The Badgers have won eight consecutive games against Minnesota and 17 of the last 19.
Dawson Garcia made two free throws to open the scoring 40 seconds into the second half and give the Gophers a one-point lead but Nolan Winter answered with a 3-pointer 15 seconds later to spark a 13-2 run that culminated when John Blackwell and Crowl made consecutive 3s to give Wisconsin a 43-33 lead.
Garcia and Lu’cye Patterson made back-to-back layups to cut Minnesota's deficit to six about 6 minutes into the second half. Tonje converted a three-point play and Crowl made a 3-pointer to push the lead into double figures for good and spark a 22-3 run that made it 67-43 when Markus Ilver hit 3-pointers 32 seconds apart.
Minnesota (8-8) is 0-5 in conference play for the first time since the Gopher lost the first 13 Big Ten games in 2015-16.
Garcia led the Gophers with 22 points and 10 rebounds, his fourth double-double this season.
Wisconsin shot 57.7% (15 of 26) from the field, 8 of 15 (53.3%) from 3-point range, in the second half.
Garcia, Patterson and Femi Odukale each hit a 3-pointer to help Minnesota jump to a 15-5 lead about 5 1/2 minutes into the game. The Badgers answered with a 10-0 run, capped by five consecutive points from Crowl, and Tonje hit a 3-pointer with 7:59 left before halftime to give Wisconsin its first lead at 18-17.
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