Matthew Mayer scored 17 points off the bench and Baylor was in control for a large chunk of the way in a 76-63 victory against Wisconsin in the NCAA Tournament South Region second-round game Sunday in Indianapolis.
Baylor (24-2) meets the North Texas-Villanova winner in the Sweet 16 round on Saturday. The Bears hold a No. 1 regional seed for the first time in program history.
Davion Mitchell and Jared Butler supplied 16 points apiece for Baylor, which shot 45.5 percent from the field just two days after a dominating opening victory in the tournament.
D’Mitrik Trice had 12 points and Nate Reuvers added 11 for ninth-seeded Wisconsin (18-13). Micah Potter and Jordan Davis both had 10 points.
Baylor built a 42-29 halftime lead.
The Badgers were within seven points at 54-47 midway through the second half before Mitchell canned a pair of free throws. After Potter’s basket for Wisconsin, Mayer hit a 3-point attempt. Mayer also had the next Baylor basket to regain momentum.
The Bears scored their final 10 points on free throws.
Mayer, Butler and Mitchell all finished with two 3-point baskets.
Wisconsin committed 14 turnovers compared to only four giveaways by the Bears.
Wisconsin guard Brad Davison, coming off a season-high 29-point outing in Friday night’s rout of North Carolina, was held to eight points on 3-for-11 shooting from the field.
The Badgers shot 8-for-21 on 3-pointers, but made it to the foul line for only seven attempts. They were limited to seven offensive rebounds.
Wisconsin had reached the 80-point mark for just the second time since Christmas in the 85-62 thrashing of North Carolina.
This was only the third all-time meeting between the teams, who split previous games with matchups in 2014 (NCAA Tournament) and 2017 (Hall of Fame Classic).
–Field Level Media