The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team (2-1) took on the McNeese State Cowboys (1-3) Wednesday night at the Kohl Center. The Badgers were without Kobe King on Wednesday after he injured his leg in practice on Monday.

The Badgers got off to a very slow start in this one, finding themselves down 10–2 to McNeese State in the early going. Wisconsin did not find their first lead until Brad Davison connected — with just six minutes remaining in the first half — on two straight free throws to put the Badgers up 21–20.

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McNeese State was effective in the first half  by attacking the basket and getting to the free throw line, effectively keeping them in the game for most of the first half. The score entering the break was 37–34 favoring the Wisconsin Badgers, a little too close for comfort for most Badger fans.

To start the second half, D’Mitrik Trice and Brevin Pritzl knocked down a slew of three-pointers to extend the Badgers’ lead to 46–39. The Badgers played with a lot of energy in the second half. This was highlighted by a 13–3 run halfway through the second half that put Wisconsin ahead by 17 points.

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Wisconsin led by as much as 26 points in the second half but went on to win the game by a score of 83–63. They managed to outscore the Cowboys by a total of 17 points in the back half of the matchup.

Kennedy was dominant for the Cowboys as he finished with 20 points and five rebounds while shooting 66.7% from the field. The other scoring leader for the Cowboys was A.J. Lawson who drained a pair of 3-pointers and finished with 10 points.

The Badgers had four players in double figures by the end of the night. Davison led the way with 24 points while connecting on seven of his eight field goal attempts. Aleem Ford followed with 16 points and a pair of rebounds. Pritzl had 13 points and Nate Reuvers finished with 10 points.

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Not much help was received from the Wisconsin bench in terms of scoring productions. Only 12 bench points for Badgers despite playing 13 players tonight. Reserve Walt McGrory, who was filling in minutes for the injured King, put up nine points, two assists and two rebounds in his 24 minutes.

The Badgers improved to 2-1 on the season and will begin preparation for Sunday when they take on their in-state rival, the Marquette Golden Eagles.