Wisconsin proves to be no match for talented, deep, unbeaten and top-ranked Arizona

TUCSON, Ariz. – Wisconsin coach Greg Gard and his players were reminded why Arizona is unbeaten and ranked No. 1 in both polls.

The lesson was painful.

The Wildcats are talented, versatile, deep and explosive and the Badgers proved to be no match in front of a raucous crowd of 14,688 Saturday at the McKale Center.

UW stayed close early but the Wildcats used a dominating stretch over the final 8 ½ minutes of the first half to build a 17-point lead en route to a 98-73 victory.

Box sore:Arizona 98, Wisconsin 73

"Obviously, I knew coming in Arizona had a heck of a team," Gard said. "Seeing them up close and in person doesn't change my opinion...

"I think the unique thing about Arizona is they can play fast and they’re big. This isn’t rocket science… They’re big. They can play in the half-court. They can get out and run. They guard really well. They’ve got some depth. They’re pretty complete."

The Badgers (7-3) saw their winning streak snapped at six games but still emerged from the three-game run against then-No. 3 Marquette, Michigan State and the top-ranked Wildcats with a 2-1 mark.

The Wildcats improved to 8-0 with another impressive performance.

How dominant have the Wildcats been so far this season?

They entered Saturday No. 2 in the nation in scoring (93.4 ppg), No. 12 nationally in field-goal accuracy (50.6%), outrebounding foes by 19.1 per game and with an average margin of victory of 30.8 points per game.

Arizona hit 8 of 17 three-pointers (47.1%) and 18 of 32 shots overall (56.3%) in building a 48-31 halftime lead on Saturday.

Remember that UW during its six-game winning streak had held foes to 56.7 points per game.

"You’ve got to give Arizona credit," Tyler Wahl said. "They’re a good team. They came out hot. They hit some shots. We stuck with them for a little bit…but at the end of the day we’ve just got to be better defensively. We’ve all got to be on the same page."

The Wildcats finished 12 of 26 from three-point range (46.2%) and 35 of 60 overall (58.3%).

AJ Storr, leading UW in scoring at 14.2 points per game, contributed 10 points Saturday. He hit just 4 of 12 shots.

Steven Crowl (12.2 ppg, 7.7 rpg) struggled to finish inside early and contributed 11 points, just two rebounds and no assists.

Wahl (10.6 ppg, 5.9 rpg) was active on both ends but also missed high-percentage shots early. He finished with eight points and five rebounds but fouled out with 2 minutes 25 seconds left and hit just 3 of 10 shots.

Both Crowl and Wahl struggled early against the Wildcats' size and length, particularly 7-foot, 260-pound center Oumar Ballo.

“We had to keep them off the paint," said Ballo, who finished with 15 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. "We had to stand our ground when they tried to back (us) down. For the most part we did a pretty good job."

Guards Chucky Hepburn and Max Klesmit combined for 12 points. Hepburn finished with seven points, six rebounds and six assists.

Freshman John Blackwell scored six points in the opening half and finished with a team-high 17 points, seven rebounds and two assists.

Blackwell's No. 1 contribution came in the second half, when despite the substantial deficit he kept attacking. Gard has to hope other players noticed.

"Coach harps on that, getting downhill," Blackwell said. "Still keep battling. The game’s not over. And I just have pride to keep plying aggressive, keep trying to score and keep trying to get others involved."

The Badgers never trailed in victories over Marquette and Michigan State but led for only 23 seconds Saturday, at 9-8 on a basket by Hepburn 3:29 into the game.  

They eventually warmed from three-point range and hit 10 of 21 attempts. However, their inability to score from inside contributed to their downfall as they made just 19 of 49 two-point shots.

The Wildcats came in with all five starters averaging at least 11.0 points per game, and five other players at 5.0 points per game or better.

All five starters finished in double figures Saturday, led by guards Pelle Larrson (21 points) and Caleb Love (20).

Larsson hit 4 of 4 three-pointers and 6 of 9 shots overall. Love hit 7 of 12 shots and added seven rebounds and five assists.

"When Larsson makes threes it changes what you can do defensively," Gard said, "because Ballo is such a load inside and it is hard to keep help in the paint around him."

The outcome was decided over the final 8:30 of the first half.

After Carter Gilmore scored inside to forge a 23-23 tie, Jaden Bradley hit a three-pointer to spark a 25-8 closing run.

Arizona hit 5 of 9 three-pointers and 9 of 17 shots overall during the run to bury UW.

"We've got a good team," Gard said. "Tommy has got a really good team. Hopefully through the next three or four months we can get to a point where we can be at their level.

"And who knows? Maybe we can meet each other again down the road."