MADISON, Wis. -- Wisconsin coach Greg Gard rotated players early and often in the ninth-ranked Badgers' 69-51 win against Chicago State on Thursday night.

Senior forward Vitto Brown scored a team-high 12 points to pace Wisconsin (2-1) at the Kohl Center.

Sophomore guard Khalil Iverson came off the bench to contribute 12 points and senior G Bronson Koenig added 10 for the Badgers.

Chicago State sophomore G Fred Sims Jr. drained consecutive 3-pointers to spark the Cougars to an 8-0 lead. But Chicago State (1-1) missed its next eight possessions as Wisconsin strung together a 17-0 run, capped by a 3-pointer by freshman G D'Mitrik Trice from the left base line with 9:52 left in the first.

Sims scored 13 first-half points on 5-of-10 shooting for the Cougars. Sims' jumper with 51 seconds to go in the first half pulled Chicago State within six points at 32-24.

Senior F Vitto Brown scored seven points for Wisconsin, which shot 42.9 percent (12 of 29) from the field in the first half.

The Badgers got a much-needed boost from their bench with 18 points in the first. Sophomore forward Alex Illikainen scored six points to lead reserves and Trice added three points and had five assists.

Iverson also made the most of his eight first-half minutes, with three rebounds, one block and one steal that led to a one-handed dunk in transition that increased the Badgers' lead to 23-11 with 7 minutes, 52 seconds in the first.

Gard attributed the Badgers' sluggish start to a quick turnaround and tough battle in their 12-point loss on Tuesday night to Creighton in Omaha, Neb. Gard said he substituted starters on Thursday due to some exhaustion he saw early on. He said reserves made a difference.

"They'll go in and (they're told): 'Play as hard as you can, as smart as you can for as long as you can,' " Gard said. "Somebody will come in and repeat.

"That's a benefit here. They understand: Do things the right way, how we teach it and what we expect. If you play hard enough, your tongue should be hanging out by the time you come out. We're starting to figure that out a little bit."

Chicago State coach Tracy Dildy said he appreciated the way his team competed and thought the Cougars could throw the Badgers' perimeter looks off by playing zone defense. Wisconsin struggled when it faced Creighton's defense in its loss two days ago.

"You catch a team after they just lost on the road, the timing was just terrible for us," Dildy said of Wisconsin. "When we did the schedule, we thought we'd come in, they'd have two wins and kind of overlooking, and we would have a chance. After the first four minutes, they gave us a knockout and we never recovered."

Gard utilized his bench, going five players deep and giving reserves 17 or more minutes of playing time.

Sims finished with a game-high 26 points on 10-of-22 shooting for Chicago State. Junior G Glen Burns added 12 for the Cougars, who shot 35.3 percent (18 of 51) overall from the field.

Illikainen scored eight points and finished 4-of-4 from the free-throw line for Wisconsin. The Badgers shot 44.8 percent (26 of 58) overall from the field.

Trice finished with a career-high seven assists.

NOTES: The game for Chicago State and Wisconsin was the second meeting between the teams. The Badgers posted a 73-45 home win over the Cougars in 2013. ... Wisconsin travels to Maui, Hawaii, on Friday to compete in the Maui Jim Maui Invitational. Wisconsin plays Tennessee on Monday. The Badgers face Oregon or Georgetown in their second game. ... The Badgers' four seniors -- F Vitto Brown, F Nigel Hayes, G Zak Showalter and G Bronson Koenig -- have won 90 games during their careers.