Ball State @ Wisconsin Game Overview

The Badgers (2-0) defeated Northern Illinois 97-72 on Friday after opening with a 96-64 over Campbell.

Ball State (2-0) pulled away in the second half to defeat Division II Mansfield 85-54 on Friday.

Transfer Nick Boyd scored 20 of his career-high 25 points in the first half as Wisconsin gained control early against Northern Illinois. The Badgers jumped out to a 20-5 lead.

"I thought we were really intense from the beginning and we were really focused pretty much the whole game," Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. "I think the only thing defensively I didn't like was we fouled too much at times."

Boyd surpassed his previous high of 24 points, set last season with San Diego State. Boyd has 46 points in his first two games with Wisconsin

"They just have to they got to respect my teammates out on the court so much," said Boyd, who also played on Florida Atlantic's 2023 Final Four team.

"It gives me just so much space to play, which is why I wanted to come here. When we get stops, I got the freedom to just fly down the court."

Returning starters John Blackwell and Nolan Winter also have played key roles, Blackwell is averaging 23.0 points with a team-best six 3-pointers, and Winter is averaging 14.5 points and a team-high 9.5 rebounds.

The Badgers, who led the nation in free throw shooting last season at 82.6%, have hit 45 of 56 through two games for 80.4 percent.

Wisconsin has turned the ball over nine times in each of the first two games, while forcing 35 turnovers -- including 17 against Northern Illinois.

Ball State has 10 new players (seven transfers and three freshmen) from last season.

Armoni Zeigler had 20 points on Friday to pace Ball State, which had five players in double figures against Mansfield.

The Cardinals, who led Mansfield 32-28 at the half, used a 20-4 run to go in front 72-52. Ball State shot 60 percent in the second half, including 5 of 13 beyond the arc, after going 1-for-10 in the first half.

"We were not particularly good tonight, the first 25-30 minutes of the game," Ball State coach Michael Lewis said. "Give these guys credit. They were able to stretch it out to a very comfortable 30-point win."

Zeigler is averaging 16.5 points and Davion Hill contributes 16.0 points and a team-best 7.0 rebounds. Cam Jenson and Elmore James also score in double figures at 12.0 and 10.0 points, respectively.

The Cardinals are shooting 51.4 percent and own a 38.0-31.0 advantage per game on the boards.

Ball State opened with a 75-64 home win over Louisiana last Monday.

"I thought we were very solid defensively," Lewis said after the opener. "I thought we showed some real patience and maturity on the offensive end that put ourselves in a position to make plays down the stretch."

--Field Level Media