Madison, WI – Wisconsin is hitting its stride at the right time and defeating the competition in dominating fashion.
Sam Dekker went 4-for-5 from 3-point range en route to 19 points as the No. 17 Badgers blew out their third straight opponent by defeating Nebraska, 77-46, on Tuesday at Kohl Center.
"Confidence. Just knowing my spots, knowing when to attack and when to be aggressive," Dekker said. "It helps a lot when these guys have a lot of faith in you. They don't mind when I put a bad shot up once in a while, because they know that I have the skill and the talent to make that and I'm going to work hard for these guys."
For the first time since the 1911-12 season, the Badgers (20-8, 11-4 Big Ten) have won three conference games in a row by at least 20 points.
Ryan Evans donated 14 points and seven boards and Ben Brust contributed 13 points in the sixth win in seven games for Wisconsin, which remains just a game back for the lead in the conference after top-ranked Indiana fell to Minnesota earlier on Tuesday.
Nebraska (13-15, 4-11) shot a brutal 32.8 percent from the field and dropped its fifth contest in seven games. Dylan Talley finished with 21 points and eight rebounds to lead the Cornhuskers.
The Badgers led nearly the entire way, as Dekker provided plenty of offense early to put Wisconsin in full control.
He scored 13 in the first half, with 11 of those points coming during a 24-2 flurry. His third triple of the surge gave Wisconsin a commanding 35-14 advantage with just over five minutes to play in the half.
Wisconsin shot an impressive 59.3 percent in the first half and held a 44-23 lead at the break.
The Cornhuskers' struggles offensively continued, as they were on the wrong end of an 18-3 push to begin the second half. Dekker and Brust each canned a triple over the run and Evans finished it with five straight points to create a 64-26 spread in favor of Wisconsin.
Nebraska went just 1-for-18 from the field over the stretch and failed to reach the 30-point plateau until there was 7:37 remaining in the contest, falling behind by as many as 38 before the final buzzer.
"I really questioned my ability to get our guys ready to play tonight," Nebraska coach Tim Miles said. "I think that would be easy to observe. They started on an 8-0 run and I thought we'd bounce back and we'd match that and then they go on the next run. You could see every time that they scored it affected our energy level. You just can't play like that."
Game Notes
Wisconsin recorded its 20th win for the seventh consecutive season ... The Badgers shot 12-for-25 from long distance for the game ... Nebraska has only one win in its last 40 road games against ranked opponent, with its last victory occurring against Texas A&M on Feb. 23, 2008.
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