UW 75, Hawthorn 68: Freshman King leads was as Badgers improve to 3-0 on tour

MELBOURNE, Australia - The incoming freshman on the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team continued to impress on the squad's five-game tour Down Under.

Kobe King scored a team-high 18 points while Brad Davison chipped in nine and Nate Reuvers four in the Badgers' 75-68 win over the Hawthorn Magic on Saturday afternoon. 

King went 6 of 8 from the field and 6 of 7 from the foul line, while grabbing five rebounds, including four on the offensive end.

"Kobe was really aggressive today," Davison said of his fellow freshman. "He's a great player and really athletic. He got some offensive rebounds to get himself going and then he got out in transition. Whenever you can get out in transition it gets you confident and more comfortable."

Through three games on the trip, King is Wisconsin's second-leading scorer with an average of 10.0 points per game. Brevin Pritzl leads the team at 14.3 points per game.

The Badgers connected on 15 three-pointers in game two of the trip, an 87-53 win over the New Zealand Breakers on Thursday, but went just 3 for 17 against Hawthorn.

Instead, Wisconsin pounded the ball down low and made a steady parade to the free throw line, finishing 18 for 27 at the charity stripe.

"I think we attacked the rim a lot more," said sophomore D'Mitrik Trice, who scored 11 points. explained. "We had 27 free-throw attempts I think, so we got to the rim, drew fouls and knocked down our free throws at the end of the day."

Next up, the Badgers face Melbourne United on Sunday before traveling to Sydney for the final game of the trip on Aug. 22.

A live stream for Sunday's game, which begins tonight at midnight Central time can be found here.