Recap

It was an absolutely dominant second half performance by top-seeded Wisconsin Saturday at the United Center in Chicago as the Badgers advanced into the finals of the Big Ten tournament with a 71-51 win over Purdue.

Down 35-30 at halftime, Wisconsin stormed out of the gates in the second half in what was perhaps its best stretch of basketball all season. The Badgers started the half with a 14-3 run to pull ahead 44-38 and never looked back. Wisconsin followed that run with another 13-0 run – highlighted by two Sam Dekker dunks – to put the game away for good and cap off arguably its best half of basketball all season. Later in the half, sophomore guard Bronson Koenig scored seven straight points to finish with a new career-high and game-high 19 points.

Photos: Big Ten tournament quarterfinals; Wisconsin vs. Michigan

Including Koenig, four of Wisconsin’s starters scored in double figures while it held Purdue to only 16 second half points. A.J. Hammons led the Boilermakers with 10 points.

Wisconsin Player of the Game

Bronson Koenig: 19 points (7-14, 3-5 3-pt), two rebounds, one assist and no turnovers in 35 minutes.

Koenig finished the game in style for the Badgers with seven straight points. The sophomore guard had five points in the first half but scored 14 in the second half by attacking the paint and finishing at the hoop. In the second half, Koenig hit the go-ahead 3-pointer for the Badgers to give them a 38-35 advantage – a lead that Wisconsin would not relinquish the rest of the game.

Purdue Player of the Game

A.J. Hammons: 10 points (4-11), seven rebounds and three blocks in 22 minutes.

Hammons tore apart the Badgers in the first half, scoring all 10 of his points in the first 20 minutes of the game. But, like the rest of his team, Hammons fell off in the second half as Wisconsin was able to neutralize the seven-foot shot blocker to 0-for-4 shooting. Hammons picked up his fourth foul with 8:12 remaining in the game and never found his way back onto the court. He was the only Boilermaker to score in double figures Saturday.

Turning Point

Undoubtedly, Wisconsin’s 14-3 run to start the second half of the game turned the tides in the Badgers’ favor. Wisconsin scored the first 10 points of the half to pull ahead 40-35. Kaminsky started the scoring before sophomore forward Nigel Hayes knocked down his third 3-pointer of the game. Koenig then followed with four straight points.

After Kendall Stephens hit a three for Purdue to end the 10-0 Wisconsin run, the Badgers responded with back-to-back baskets from Kaminsky and Dekker to go up 44-38.

When You Knew It Was Over

You knew this one was over when Sam Dekker threw down another dunk with 7:07 left in the game that put Wisconsin up 57-44.

After a Purdue miss on the other end, Kaminsky grabbed the rebound and ran up along the left side of the floor before he found a cutting Dekker down the middle of the lane for the slam. It was Dekker’s second dunk in the Badgers’ 13-0 run and put to rest any hopes Purdue had of attempting a comeback.

Key Stats

– After shooting 37 percent (10-for-27) in the first half, Wisconsin shot 57.1 percent (16-for-28) in the second half. Purdue shot 50 percent (13-for-26) in the first half but made only six second half field goals en route to shooting 24 percent (6-for-26) in the half.

– Four of Wisconsin’s starters scored in double figures. Koenig (19), Dekker (15), Hayes (15) and Kaminsky (12) led the way for UW. Dekker had a team-high eight rebounds for the Badgers.

– Wisconsin converted nine Purdue turnovers into 15 points. The Badgers did not commit a turnover until the 5:34 mark of the second half and finished with only three for the game. The Boilermakers did not score off any of Wisconsin’s three turnovers.

– Purdue outscored Wisconsin in the paint in the first half, 16-12, but the Badgers closed down the lane in the second half, outscoring the Boilermakers in the paint 14-4 in the second half.

– Wisconsin also outrebounded Purdue 35-27 including a 12-9 advantage on the offensive glass.

Game Notes

– With the win over Purdue, Wisconsin improved its record to 30-3, just one win shy of their single-season record of 31 wins that was set in 2007-08.

– The Badgers held the Boilermakers to a season-low 51 points Saturday. Purdue’s two lowest scoring games this season came against Wisconsin.

– Saturday’s game was just the seventh time all season that Wisconsin trailed at halftime.

– Scoring 12 points against Purdue, Kaminsky has now scored in double figures in 31 of his 32 games this season.

– Wisconsin is 22-2 when both Kaminsky and Dekker eclipse the 10-point mark.

– The Badgers will play in the Big Ten tournament championship for the sixth time in program history. Wisconsin owns a 2-3 record in the championship.

Quotable

Dekker on Wisconsin’s second half performance:

“It was one of the best halves we’ve had this year. It started by getting defensive stops and then leading into our offense. First half, we didn’t really try to push the ball much, so we were getting rebounds, getting steals and just trying to push it, just trying to go, see how they responded. And I thought it kind of put them on their heels. They didn’t really expect it right away. When we can get running like that, it flows really well for our offense and we were able to take advantage of it.”

Dekker on why Wisconsin deserves a one-seed over other teams:

“I think we’ve had a good year. Some people say that the conference is down a little bit, but it’s still not an easy conference. We’ve had some quality wins. 30-3 right now is pretty tough to ignore, but other teams have good resumes too, but I just think we have a talented team that can play anywhere and we’re also well coached.”

Koenig on if Wisconsin is deserving of a one-seed:

“I definitely feel like we are deserving of a one-seed. When we push the ball like that and play Wisconsin defense, I think we are one of the best teams in the country for sure.”

Josh Gasser on Wisconsin’s game overall:

“If we can just put a full 40-minutes effort together, that would be great. It just shows how good we can be, but also how bad we can be at the same time. At this time of year, you have to play your best.”

Bo Ryan on Wisconsin’s defense on Hammons:

“Yeah, I don’t think he had a field goal in the second half. But it was primarily Frank and a little bit of Vitto [Brown] and Nigel helped in there a couple times. But if you start to dig too much off of their perimeter shooters, they can shoot the three, so we cat and moused a little bit, fake dig, and then cover. But I thought one-on-one Frank did an unbelievable job of not allowing Hammons to score.”

Photos: Big Ten tournament quarterfinals; Wisconsin vs. Michigan