Wisconsin's most difficult remaining nonconference test went off without a hitch Monday night at Haas Pavilion during a 68-56 victory against Cal. The Badgers won their fourth consecutive game to move to 11-1, while the Golden Bears dropped to 10-2.
It was an impressive performance for a team that has lived up to the billing as the favorite to win the Big Ten regular season championship. Wisconsin led 32-20 at halftime and never allowed Cal to seriously threaten in the second half.
1 big moment: Cal created an 11-2 run to trim Wisconsin's deficit to 44-36 with less than 10 minutes remaining in the second half. But Badgers center Frank Kaminsky responded by drilling a 3-pointer near the top of the key off a pass from point guard Traevon Jackson. The score pushed the Badgers ahead by double digits once again and sparked a 10-2 Wisconsin run that put the game out of reach.
2 top performances: Badgers sophomore forward Nigel Hayes was a force on the court, and he recorded his third double-double this season. Hayes finished with 17 points and 13 rebounds. His most impressive move was a baseline spin to his left for a dunk that gave Wisconsin a 54-38 lead.
Kaminsky put together another strong effort with 14 points and eight rebounds and buried the most important shot of the second half for Wisconsin. Honorable mention here goes to forward Sam Dekker, who finished with 14 points and six rebounds on 5 of 10 shooting.
3 key stats: Wisconsin prides itself on making more free throws than its opponents attempt, and the Badgers excelled in that area again. UW connected on 17 of 18 free throw tries (94.4 percent), while Cal hit 9 of 13 attempts.
Thanks to Hayes' monstrous game on the boards, Wisconsin handily outrebounded Cal 39-29. UW also collected more offensive rebounds (8-5).
The Badgers committed only two fouls through the first 30 minutes of the game. Wisconsin finished with 12 fouls to Cal's 15.
Said: "Berkeley and Madison, two pinnacles of evolutionary progress coming together inside this magnificent gym tonight to settle everything." -- Bill Walton before the game on the television broadcast.
"Happy everything forever." -- Walton during his postgame sign-off. In between, he said plenty more oddities to keep the game moderately entertaining.
"I thought we played really well for a long road trip after finals." -- Bo Ryan on his team following a nine-day game layoff.
Next: Wisconsin returns to Madison and will play its final nonconference game of the regular season at 7 p.m. Sunday against Buffalo. The Bulls are 7-2 with losses against Kentucky and St. Bonaventure. Buffalo last played on Friday and defeated Niagara 88-62.
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