Ben Brust drills seven threes as Wisconsin Badgers pin Brigham Young Cougars 73-56: NCAA Basketball
Ben Brust burst with seven shots from downtown as Wisconsin Badgers overpowered the Brigham Young Cougars 73-56 win on Saturday night for the Chicago Invitational Challenge title.
Brust all of game-high 21 points on three and clutched four rebounds as well.
"Teammates found me and I just knocked them down," said Brust, who hit five of seven three-pointers in the second half. "When you're open you've got to shoot it."
Jordan Taylor, who ended as the Most Valuable Player of the tournament, tallied 18 points along with eight assists and five rebounds.
Wisconsin Badgers tipped off aggressively and stretched their lead to 14-6 with some quick possessions within the first four minutes in the game. Taylor hit back to back threes in this rally, which continued until the Badgers pushed
their lead into double-digits (22-10) by the 13:52 mark.
Brigham Young Cougars made a remarkable comeback though and were able to tie the scores 24-24 with 8:57 minutes still to go in the first half. DeMarcus Harrison made 5 points in the 14-2 run, including a three that tied the scores.
The teams fought it out in the next minutes and the Cougars were leading by one before Ben Brust hit a three to give Badgers a 34-32 lead at the end of the first.
The first eight minutes of the second half witnessed a thrilling battle. The Cougars tied the scores at 38 on Noah Hartsock’s free throws, but the Badgers didn’t allow them to go beyond that.
Brust once again appeared on the scene and shot a three-pointer that ignited a 14-2 surge to push the lead to 59-44. Brust shot two more threes in that rally and as the Badger asserted their authority on the game. The surge knocked
the steam out of the Cougars and never threatened again.
For Cougars, no one except Hartsock touched the double-figure mark. He nailed 18 points and grabbed 6 rebounds on the night.
They made only 1-10 three’s on the night as compared to 13-24 from the Badgers. Overall, the Cougars shot 0.43 from the floor, meanwhile the Badger drilled in nearly 51 percent of their shots.
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