No. 19 Wisconsin, UCF face off in clash of undefeated teams

Two undefeated teams will square off Friday at the Greenbrier Tip-Off as No. 19 Wisconsin takes on UCF in White Sulphur Springs, W.Va.Wisconsin (5-0) upset then-No. 9 Arizona 103-88 last Friday. On Monday, the Badgers nearly were upset by Texas Rio Grande Valley but pulled out an 87-84 victory.The Badgers were down by four at the half, then were up by just one point with a minute to go before a pair of free throws sealed the victory.John Blackwell led Wisconsin with 30 points, and John Tonje, coming off a 41-point effort over Arizona, scored 19.”We made some mistakes and allowed the force rotations and scrambles; they got some confidence and it grew,” Badgers coach Greg Gard said. “That second half we were better. Good teams find a way when things aren’t always clicking. We’ll learn from it and keep getting better.”Guard Max Klesmit spoke on the adjustments made when the team was down at halftime.”I think we’re all pretty hard on each other in the locker room when it’s just the players waiting for the coaches,” Klesmit said. “There wasn’t anything specific coach said in the huddle. I think we all kinda knew the issue that had just happened and how we had to fix it.”UCF has been in some battles to reach 4-0, coming in off an 80-69 home win over Tennessee Tech on Tuesday.Keyshawn Hall led UCF with 20 points and eight rebounds. Jordan Ivy-Curry added 15 points and Dallan “Deebo” Coleman scored 14. Darius Johnson also joined the 1,000-point club with his six points, the first Knights player to reach the milestone since Tacko Fall (2019).