Jericole Hellems established a new career-high for the second game in a row, scoring a game-high 23 points and Markell Johnson added 12 points to spark North Carolina State to a 69-54 victory over Wisconsin as part of the Big Ten/ACC Challenge on Wednesday night at the PNC Arena in Raleigh.

The Wolfpack (6-2) avenged last season's loss to the Badgers (4-4) by shooting 48.2 percent (27-of-56) from the field, which included an 8-for-20 effort from beyond the arc. Hellems, who scored 17 points against Memphis on Nov. 28, finished 8-for-13 from the floor and 4-of-6 on 3-pointers.

C.J. Bryce supplied some scoring off the bench with 11 points, as the Wolfpack committed just six turnovers and tallied six blocks. The Badgers lost their third straight game by shooting a frigid 21.7 percent (5-for-23) on 3-pointers. Aleem Ford had 13 points and seven rebounds and Nate Reuvers and Kobe King both scored 11.

Besides a low-scoring affair, the game also had a short delay after a referee suffered a rib injury with just over eight minutes remaining in the second half.

The Wolfpack pulled ahead 50-39 with 12:15 left in the second half, then Andrew drilled a 3-pointer to extend the lead to 53-41. The Badgers managed to cut the deficit to nine points before the Wolfpack relied on a mini-run to take a 66-53 lead following a basket by Hellems.

Johnson drilled a step-back 3-pointer to extend the lead to 69-53.

The game got off to a slow offensive start, with the two teams combining for six points in the first five-plus minutes. The Wolfpack rebounded behind a flurry of shots, finishing 14-for-31 for the first half to lead 32-30. The Badgers made just three of 12 3-point attempts to negate a 21-15 advantage on the boards.

--Field Level Media