Blackwell, Tonje lead No. 19 Wisconsin over UCF 86-70 in Greenbrier Tip-Off

WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS, W.Va. (AP) — John Blackwell scored 17 points, John Tonje added 15 and No. 19 Wisconsin rode a hot start to an 86-70 victory over UCF in the Greenbrier Tip-Off on Friday night.

Kamari McGee added 14 points while Nolan Winter had 13 points and 10 rebounds for the Badgers (6-0), who are off to their best start in six seasons.Jordan Ivy-Curry led UCF (4-1) with 13 points, and Keyshawn Hall and Dior Johnson scored 11 apiece.

Both teams played for the first time outside of their respective campuses. The game was held inside a ballroom at The Greenbrier resort, which has hosted presidents and royalty.

Takeaways

Wisconsin: Despite being outscored 26-12 from the free-throw line, the Badgers looked dominant from the start four days after a shaky 87-84 comeback win over UT Rio Grande Valley.

UCF: The Knights shot 29% (10 of 34) from the floor in the first half, missing all nine 3-point attempts, and fell into a hole they couldn’t recover from. UCF shot 34% (21 of 62) for the game.

Key moment

Wisconsin 7-footer Steven Crowl picked up his fourth foul seconds into the second half, and UCF trimmed a 22-point deficit to 13. But Winter made a hook shot in the lane and a 3-pointer on back-to-back possessions, and Tonje followed with a fast-break layup to push Wisconsin’s lead to 53-33. UCF got no closer than 15 after that.

Key stat

Wisconsin made 11 layups over the first 13 minutes of the game and eventually built a 42-20 lead. Tonje was mostly an observer early and didn’t score his first basket until 12 minutes had passed.

Up next

Wisconsin plays Pittsburgh in the championship game on Sunday. Pregame at 3:30 p.m. on KFIZ.