Badgers news: 3 quick takeaways from 79-67 win over Montana State

The Wisconsin Badgers defeated the Montana State Bobcats 79-67 to improve to 2-0 on the season. They benefited from an efficient offensive attack and a second half run to remain undefeated to start the year.

It was a tough battle for most of the first half, but the Badgers pulled away toward the end, similar to the Holy Cross game, and went into halftime with a 39-33 lead. Then a few runs in the second half led to a double-digit deficit for Montana State, which remained for much of the final period.

Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin's 79-67 win over Montana State on Thursday.

Attack the rim

One of the most underrated aspects of Wisconsin's season opener was the fact that they went a perfect 16/16 from the free throw line, with John Tonje having many of those chances and making 100 percent of his shots.

Well, the Badgers made a greater effort to attack the rim against Montana State, as only 10 of their 26 shots in the first half came from long range. While Wisconsin wasn't as efficient inside the arc (6/16), they grabbed four offensive rebounds and got to the free throw line at a high rate, firing 13 shots from the foul line in the first half alone.

Wisconsin's streak of free throws made ended at 25, but the Badgers were still 12/13 from the line in the first half, with John Tonje once again being the catalyst, shooting 8/9 from the line.

It was a different kind of game for Tonje, who didn't go for threes so much as attack, for which he was rewarded with free throws throughout the first half.

The Badgers had a similar mentality in the second half as they tried to separate themselves from Montana State, with 55.6 percent of their shots coming from inside the arc. Wisconsin continued to be successful on offense and making free throws, converting 100 percent of its chances in the second half.

In the second half, McGee shined, scoring seven points on 3/4 shooting while getting to the post twice. His game continued to evolve as he was a strong leader off the bench and set the tone for Wisconsin as the primary facilitator.

Overall, it wasn't the best night for the Badgers in terms of efficiency at the rim, as they were just 8/18 on layups throughout the game. But the opportunities were there and Wisconsin wanted to get to the rim more often Thursday.

In their first two games, the exhibition against UW-River Falls and the season opener, Wisconsin was three-way happy at times. And to their credit, they shot better from distance early on Thursday.

But it was a good sign to see that they also placed a greater emphasis on attacking the rim with dribble penetration, which produced good results and let them overcome some of their inefficiencies inside the arc early on.

Threesome again?

As we've shared, it's clear that Wisconsin's roster will be a three-point shooting team this year.

While they initially didn't have much success in the exhibition game against UW-River Falls and only shot 1/10 from distance against Holy Cross in the beginning, things looked different for the Badgers on Thursday.

Wisconsin started the game 4/7 from deep in a shooting battle between both teams as Max Klesmit hit three 3-pointers in the first half to pave the way for the Badgers. It was a two-pronged attack for Wisconsin as Tonje was more of their attacker while Klesmit thrived from deep in the first half.

Tonje had a three-pointer of his own while Blackwell went 1/3 from long range, leading to Wisconsin shooting 5/10 from long range in the first period.

Klesmit's success continued in the second half as the guard hit three more three-pointers to give the Badgers the lead again. He finished the game with 26 points and hit six three-pointers in a strong night for the senior guard.

Wisconsin saw a similar amount of success in three games total, shooting 6/12 in the second half as it was still a productive effort and had a different look than the first two games where some of those shooting issues were noticeable.

Overall, the Badgers shot 11/22. from distance, and her three-point attempts accounted for 41.5 percent of her total shot selection. We'll see how this trend continues as the season begins.

Run in the second half

For the second straight game, the Badgers pulled away from Montana State thanks to a second-half run.

After entering halftime with a 39-33 lead, Wisconsin started the second half strong, going on an 8-0 run after an early three-pointer by Montana State to push the lead to 47-36. Max Klesmit was the catalyst there, hitting two three-pointers when he was really feeling good and putting the Badgers up by double digits.

Later, Wisconsin went on another 13-3 run, with John Blackwell draining an early three-pointer and a two-pointer, while Max Klesmit had two free throws and a layup. Kamari McGee capped it all off with a layup in transition to extend the lead to 62-45.

The Badgers had a rougher stretch on offense over the next few minutes, but were still able to hold their own well enough on defense to make this game a double-digit game before the start of the fourth quarter.

Wisconsin ultimately held on for its second straight win, 79-65, fending off a feisty opponent to start the year 2-0.

While we've seen the offense go through a cold spell over the past two years, it's a good sign that Wisconsin has found a way to grow as play continued earlier this year as it was another run in the season It was the second half that ultimately sealed the deal for the Badgers.