MADISON, Wis. _ Greg Gard's Wisconsin players taught an advanced course Tuesday night at the Kohl Center:
Zone busting 101.
Attacking Syracuse's long, 2-3 zone with rapid, accurate passes, No. 17 UW dominated No. 22 Syracuse for most of the night en route to a 77-60 victory in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge.
UW (6-2) evened its record in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge to 9-9 by defeating Syracuse for the second consecutive season.
Syracuse fell to 4-2.
Ethan Happ decimated Syracuse for the second consecutive season and finished with 24 points and 13 rebounds. He hit 10 of 12 shots. Happ scored 18 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in UW's overtime victory over Syracuse last season.
Bronson Koenig, shooting 27.3 percent from 3-point range, hit 6 of 9 3-pointers Tuesday and 7 of 11 shots overall to finish with 20 points.
Vitto Brown added 10 points. Nigel Hayes missed a late free throw to fall one point short of a triple-double. The senior forward was fantastic in helping UW break down the zone and finished with nine points, 11 rebounds and 10 assists.
Zak Showalter added eight points and freshman D'Mitrik Trice added six points.
Syracuse had limited its first five opponents to 20.3 percent shooting from 3-point range and 31.9 percent overall.
UW hit 11 of 23 3-pointers (47.8 percent) and 29 of 59 shots overall (49.2 percent). The Badgers had 21 assists on 29 baskets and 12 turnovers.
Andrew White III led Syracuse with 14 points but did not score after halftime. He hit 4 of 6 3-pointers and 5 of 9 shots overall in the first half. He missed all 3 3-point attempts and all six field-goal attempts in the second half.
UW moved the ball crisply against Syracuse's zone and built a 28-14 lead with 10 minutes 1 second left in the half. The Badgers hit 5 of 8 3-pointers, 10 of 17 shots overall and had seven assists and no turnovers.
Led by White, Syracuse battled back and closed within 39-37 with 1:48 left in the half.
Happ scored inside and added two free throws to push the lead to 43-37 but Syracuse guard John Gillon (10 points) hit two free throws with 21 seconds left to close the scoring.
UW responded early in the second half with crisper ball movement and efficient shooting to build the lead back to double digits.
Koenig hit two 3-pointers, Happ scored inside and Brown hit a 3-pointer to help UW take a 54-41 lead with 16:48 left. Back-to-back baskets by Happ, off pinpoint passes from Hayes, helped UW push the lead to 58-41 with 14:20 left.
Unable to get stops and with White firing blanks, Syracuse had no chance to rally.
