MINNEAPOLIS — The University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team ended a couple of droughts Thursday afternoon, and the Badgers did it in emphatic fashion.The Badgers’ 87-56 victory over Maryland in a Big Ten tournament second-round game at the Target Center was shockingly easy.It’s not a stretch to say Wisconsin hadn’t played that well in nearly two months.Here are some of my thoughts from the game.What I liked The Badgers put on an offensive clinic.

Some of you might be saying: Calm down, it was against Maryland.To which my response would be, well, the Terrapins came into the game No.9 in the nation in adjusted defensive efficiency.

People are also reading… The Badgers shot 64% overall and went 10 of 13 from 3-point range in the opening half, averaging a robust 1.57 points per possession.They didn’t take the foot off the gas in the second half, scoring the first 18 points after halftime to turn the game into a blowout.Every offense looks better when shots go in — that’s obvious.Wisconsin going 16 of 25 from 3-point range for the game was huge.

But the patience and ball movement that led to those good looks from the perimeter were just as impressive.I thought the Badgers did a great job of making the extra pass and stepping into shots with confidence.Can that continue? We’ll see.• The player of the game for me? Wisconsin freshman reserve John Blackwell, who had 18 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes.

Blackwell adds so much on both ends.The amount of confidence he plays with — remember, this was his first postseason game — is incredible.He might be the Badgers’ best player right now.• A good sign for the Badgers came on their opening possession of the game when Tyler Wahl missed a shot and Steven Crowl was there for the rebound and a strong putback.Wisconsin needs this type of aggressiveness and efficiency from Crowl if it is going to have a successful postseason.He finished with 17 points on 7-of-8 shooting in 18 minutes.Great game for the Wisconsin big man.What I didn’t like There’s not one nitpick to put in this category.

Seriously, this was as complete a performance as the Badgers could have hoped for to kick off the postseason.What it means As I mentioned up top, the Badgers ended a couple bad streaks.This was their first win away from home since Jan.23, when they beat Minnesota at Williams Arena .

It was Wisconsin’s first win in the Big Ten tournament since 2021.There will be no one-and-done for the Badgers this time around.Even better, an easy win meant that the key players in the rotation didn’t have to log a lot of minutes.Wisconsin should have fresh legs heading into Friday’s quarterfinal against Northwestern.

Contact Jim Polzin at [jpolzin@madison.com](mailto:jpolzin@madison.com)..