DENVER (AP) — Wisconsin backup forward Carter Gilmore made a sweet 3, then turned to the Montana fans and signaled for them to “shhhh.”

Back on defense, he took a charge from one Montana player, then altered another’s shot. By the time Gilmore’s flurry was over Thursday, the game pretty much was, too. The Badgers pulled away for their first March Madness win in three years, 85-66 over the Grizzlies.

“He’s a major key to our team,” said John Blackwell, who finished with 19 points and was one of five Badgers in double digits. “He’s a spark plug off the bench, a guy who’s always going to give us energy whether he gets 15 points or zero points.”

Gilmore finished with eight points, and Wisconsin set aside the bad vibes from its first-round loss last year to James Madison. Next, coach Greg Gard’s team will try to make the Sweet 16 for the first time in eight years with a game against either VCU or BYU in the East Region.

Gilmore’s burst came after the 14th-seeded Grizzlies cut their deficit to 51-47 with a poke-away steal, then an easy layup by Money Williams, Gilmore came back with a quick 3 that he punctuated by turning to the growingly rowdy Montana crowd and sticking up three fingers, with his index finger over his mouth.

He drew the charge on Montana’s next possession, then altered Te’Jon Sawyer’s shot on the next, part of an 8-0 run that gave Wisconsin its biggest lead of the game to that point — one that would expand to 21 points.

“It was huge, and that’s what good players do in those moments,” Montana coach Travis DeCuire said.

Sawyer and Kai Johnson led the Grizzlies (25-10) with 15 points each.

Crowl leads the other Wisconsin double-digit scorers

The other Wisconsin double-digit scorers were Steven Crowl (18 points on 8 for 10 from the floor), John Tonje (15), Xavier Amos (11) and Nolan Winter (10). Tonje, the second-team All-American who played his first four years of college up the road at Colorado State, made all nine of his free throws.

“It’s huge,” Tonje said of the scoring coming from every area. “Especially down the line in March when you’ve got tired legs or whatever, you can really rely on a deep roster full of talented guys.”

Cold shooting, cold Money for Montana

Montana, champion of the Big Sky Conference, came in as the nation’s second-best shooting team (50.2%) but made only 39% in the program’s first March Madness game since 2019.

Williams, the Grizzlies’ leading scorer this season, was blanketed by Blackwell most of the game and finished with eight points on 2-for-8 shooting.

Meanwhile, Wisconsin shot 55% from the field.

Looking to cover

The commotion rippling through Ball Arena over a couple of late garbage-time possessions for Montana likely had to do with the 16 1/2-point spread on this game.

Adam Shoff and Jeremiah Dargan each had relatively open 3-point looks in the last minute, but neither hit the rim and the Badgers covered.

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