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MADISON, Wisconsin (AP) — Stephen Kroll scored 17 points, Chucky Hepburn scored 16, and No. 14 Wisconsin beat Minnesota 63-60 for a sixth straight win on Tuesday night.
Conor Essegian scored 11 points off the bench as the Badgers (11-2, 3-0 Big Ten) won 14 of their 16 games against Minnesota.
The Badgers struggled with Minnesota’s full-court press in the final 38 seconds, and Hepburn turned the ball over in midcourt.
Ta’Lon Cooper made a layup in 27 seconds and the Gophers cut Wisconsin’s lead to 63-60.
Hepburn’s fifth steal of the game was with one second remaining. He slammed the ball from Cooper, sealing the Badgers victory.
Wisconsin’s leading scorer Tyler Wall, averaging 14.5 points per game, suffered an ankle injury in the first half. He sat out the rest of the game after playing his eight minutes.
Hepburn said the Badgers need to focus on execution by closing out the game.
Wisconsin’s Hepburn has won three Big Ten games by five points or less.
Cooper scored a team-high 16 points in the Gophers (6-7, 0-3) in their first game in 12 days since their December 29th cancellation.
Dawson Garcia scored 14 points and Jamison Battle scored 13 for Minnesota in 20 turnovers.
Minnesota coach Ben Johnson said he liked the Gophers’ “battle and competitiveness”, but the turnovers were difficult to overcome.
“It’s a very possession type game, especially in this league,” Johnson said. “You have to take care of the ball. For us, 20 turnovers makes it a very difficult situation to pull out (win), especially on the road.”
The teams exchanged leads six times in the first half.
Hepburn ran out consecutive 3-pointers and Max Kressmit capped off an 8-0 run with a layup with 1:25 left in the first half to give the Badgers a 32-26 lead at the break.
Wisconsin won baskets on three of their first four possessions to start the second half and extend the Badgers’ lead to 39-26.
But the gophers didn’t give up. The battle saw him run out of back-to-back 3-pointers—both from the right baseline—pulling Minnesota to within 7 points at 49-42.
Minnesota stringed together an 11-0 run limited by a battle layup to pull the Gophers within one point with 8:34 remaining.
But Wisconsin’s Jordan Davis hit a banked 3-pointer to make it 57-53.
Wisconsin coach Greg Gard attributed Hepburn’s defensive success to his sophomore athleticism.
“He can read people and stop their initial direction,” Gard said. “He’s really good at reading when they go to the counter.
“The ball is bare, you can reach for it enough to interfere with the dribble, and the bulldogs are making their way towards it.”
big picture
Minnesota: The Gophers struggled to find their offensive rhythm after eight turnovers in the first half. Minnesota shot 39% from the field on first shots in 11 of 28 innings. Cooper scored seven points in the first half along with two turnovers.
Wisconsin: Hepburn continued to show off her outdoor shots. Hepburn had a 49% shooting percentage (25-of-51) from the 3-point range in Tuesday’s game. Hepburn shot 3 of 4 from long range against Gopher.
next
Minnesota: Host Nebraska on Saturday.
Wisconsin: Saturday in Illinois.
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