SPORTS
Business as usual: Badgers take care of Panthers
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Also by Mike Ackerstein:
- Wisconsin hits road for Milwaukee (December 12, 2007)
- Heisman pressures could tackle Tebow (December 10, 2007)
- Wisconsin's home streak dead at 28 (December 10, 2007)
- Poor ball control haunts Badgers (December 10, 2007)
- Badgers put on show against Terriers (December 4, 2007)
Related Stories:
- Wisconsin hits road for Milwaukee (December 12, 2007)
- Panthers maul women's soccer (October 10, 2001)
- UW prepares for first round (November 29, 2001)
- Men's soccer team faces tough weekend (October 4, 2001)
- Badgers shut out Panthers (October 14, 2002)
by Mike Ackerstein
Thursday, December 13, 2007
MILWAUKEE — When half the people in the stands are wearing
the road team's colors, any sort of home-court advantage that might have
existed is more or less nullified.
Such was the case Wednesday night when the Wisconsin men's
basketball team beat UW-Milwaukee 61-39 in front of a U.S. Cellular Arena crowd
that was just as clad in red and white as it was in yellow and black.
"I really didn't notice it until the last minute [of the
game]," Panther forward Torre Johnson said of the atmosphere.
For Johnson, though, the realization packed a punch.
"Our fans were leaving, and their fans were cheering,"
Johnson said.
Wisconsin fans had plenty of reason to cheer as Trevon
Hughes, who struggled mightily in the loss to Marquette Saturday, finished with
12 points, five rebounds and three assists, and Marcus Landry dropped a
game-high 16 points in front of his hometown to help lead the Badgers (7-2) to
victory over the Panthers (3-7).
"On any given night anybody can score 16 points on this
team," Landry said, downplaying his effort in front of family and friends. "I
guess today was just my night."
Landry's performance came in a game that was never much in
doubt, despite a slow UW start.
Milwaukee came out of the gates hot, scoring the games first
four points. But Wisconsin didn't stay down for long, taking the lead for good
by scoring six-straight points. From there, it took over and entered the half
with a 31-21 lead.
The Panthers continued to struggle once the second half
began, scoring just four points in the first eight minutes, allowing the
Badgers to open up a 17-point lead that provided an even bigger cushion.
Though UWM was able to find some offense late in the half,
the damage was done. By the 2:30 mark, Ryan cleared his bench.
"We got some things going," Ryan said of his team's
performance. "I liked the way we finished the half, and I liked the way we
played for most of the second half."
A major factor in UW's blowout win was the improved play on
the glass. After being outrebounded by Marquette in its last game, UW returned
to form against UWM, exploiting its size and finishing with a 37-16 advantage
on the boards.
"They're big, they're a tough matchup for us with their
size," Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter said. "They just kept pounding it inside; they
just wore us down."
Wisconsin was aided by Johnson's early foul trouble —
Milwaukee's leading scorer and rebounder. After picking up his second personal
early in the first half, the senior was forced to ride the bench, and the
Badgers capitalized.
"I tried to keep him out there as many minutes as I could
and pick some spots so he just didn't sit on the bench and get out of rhythm,"
Jeter said of Johnson's foul trouble. "Quite frankly, I just didn't want to let
the game get away from us, and then it ended up happening at the [end of the
first half].
"It always hurts when you have a player [who] goes down that
plays as many minutes as Torre does. It's hard to replace that."
Johnson came into the game averaging 18.7 points and 8.7
rebounds, but managed just 10 points and two boards Wednesday night.
"Torre Johnson is a very good player, and he's going to have
some great nights," Ryan said. "But with our size we neutralized some of that."
With Johnson sitting more minutes then usual, Jeter, who
coached and played under Ryan, was unable to exploit his familiarity with his
counterpart. That doesn't mean he wasn't trying to beat his old boss, though.
"The best respect I can pay to him is to kick his butt,"
Jeter said. "I'm trying to make him proud by putting out the best team and the
best program that I can."
Ultimately, it was Ryan's team doing the butt-kicking
Wednesday night, but that's not to say Ryan enjoyed beating his former
assistant.
"It's still a game," Ryan said. "It's all part of the game, but I'd rather not coach against him."
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