After what was a slow start for the Wisconsin men’s basketball team in the first half of its matchup against University of Wisconsin-Green Bay, it looked as if the Badgers were heading towards a similar result as last year’s matchup, which went down to the wire and ended with a 69-66 victory.

It had all the makings of last year’s contest, especially because Green Bay senior guard Keifer Sykes, as he did last year, was doing everything he could to keep the Phoenix in the game in the first half, scoring 14 points on 6-11 shooting.

However, it was a scoring load that Sykes could not keep up, and the Badger offense exploded in the second half en route to an 84-60 victory over the Phoenix.

Very poor free throw shooting highlighted the first half struggles for Wisconsin.

Despite a half where Green Bay recorded 15 team fouls and the Badgers (3-0 overall) found themselves in the double bonus with less than six minutes remaining, Wisconsin was unable to take advantage. The Badgers shot 13-23 (56.5 percent) from the line and had only a 38-29 lead going into halftime.

Free throw shooting was a different story for Wisconsin in the second half, and although they didn’t have as many attempts, the Badgers took care of the ones they did have, shooting 11-14 (78.6 percent) from the stripe in the final 20 minutes.

“Free throws are kind of contagious,” junior forward Sam Dekker said, who was 6-9 from the stripe Wednesday. “When we are making them all, they seem a little easier, it takes some of the pressure off. I don’t now why it is, but it’s just that way. Second half I thought we were better, we were a little more calm, and just got up to the stripe and do what we usually do.”

The improved free throw shooting was just one factor of a strong offensive second half for the Badgers, a half with which they started with a 11-1 run, opening up the lead to 17 points just four minutes into the period.

“For us, it was a tale of the last five minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second,” Green Bay head coach Brain Wardle said. “It was not a good stretch for us and it kind of changed the whole game.”

On a night where 10 NBA scouts were in attendance at the Kohl Center to likely watch Sykes, Dekker and senior forward Frank Kaminsky, it was sophomore forward Nigel Hayes who shined brightest in what was a career night for the Ohio-native.

Hayes finished the game with a career-high 25 points and 11 rebounds — his second double-double in two games.

With Hayes’ performance Wednesday night, the sophomore from Ohio is now averaging 15.3 points and 11.3 rebounds per game.

Kaminksy was not far behind Hayes, recording 20 points and 15 rebounds on the night, and Dekker followed with 19 points of his own. In total, the three starters in the frontcourt for Wisconsin combined for 64 points and 30 rebounds.

“I don’t see why we can’t do this more going forward,” Kaminsky said.

While it was the offense that carried Wisconsin to their hot second half start, it was their defensive that really allowed them to finish the game strong, especially their play on Sykes, who after putting up 14 points in the first half, recorded six in the second.

“I think we kept him in front of us better,” Dekker said. “If he gets an inch by you, he’s gone. You can’t recover from a guy with that speed. We kept him in front of us, corralled him in the paint and made him shoot jumpers instead of getting all the way to the rim in the first half. Just trying to make it a little more uncomfortable for him.”

While the scoreboard may say otherwise, Wisconsin was not planning on this matchup being a cakewalk.

Green Bay is a team that finished with a record of 24-7 last season and was a game away in the Horizon League tournament from making the NCAA tournament. The Badgers made sure to keep their focus going into Wednesday’s game and maintain that focus throughout.

As the final score shows, they did just that.

“I’m fully prepared for [Green Bay] to be in the NCAA tournament,” Dekker said. “To get a win like this tonight, to play that well in the second half, it says a lot about our team. Stay the course, and trying to work for 40 minutes.”

Wisconsin will return to the Kohl Center Saturday in a matchup against Boise State at 9 p.m.