SPORTS
Hughes leads Wisconsin in rout
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Also by Ben Voelkel:
- Hughes maturing as season progresses (February 4, 2008)
- Win puts Wisconsin back atop Big Ten (February 1, 2008)
- UW hosts IU, hopes to rebound from upset loss (January 31, 2008)
- Bo stands by play call after loss (January 29, 2008)
Related Stories:
- Badger women lose to Gophers (February 28, 2003)
- Men's basketball tames the Wildcats (February 11, 2002)
- Minnesota up next for struggling Wisconsin (February 18, 2005)
- Stone, Badgers fall to Gophers (February 2, 2004)
- Wisconsin volleyball falls to Minnesota (November 11, 2002)
by Ben Voelkel
Monday, February 4, 2008
MINNEAPOLIS — Playing in a place called “The Barn,” the Wisconsin men’s basketball team took Minnesota out back and gave the Gophers an old-fashioned country beating.
From the opening tip, the Badgers never trailed in Sunday’s game.
Three Badgers scored double figures, and the UW defense held the opposition to less than 50 points for the second consecutive game as Wisconsin won 63-47.
The victory moved Wisconsin (18-3, 8-1 Big Ten) back into a tie with Purdue for first place in the conference standings and was the Badgers’ 12th win in their last 13 games against the Gophers.
The win also washed the sour taste from the loss their last time on the road out of the Badgers’ mouths.
“We realized our last road game we didn’t play that well and I think we wanted to come out and really play well, try to give a statement a little bit,” forward Brian Butch said.
Minnesota, (13-7, 3-5) on the other hand, never was able to get going offensively, finishing with 36 percent shooting.
“We hit some shots, so we gained a little confidence,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “They didn’t, so do you lose a little confidence? I don’t know, I can’t speak for other teams. But I know that definitely helped us to hit some shots early.”
The Badgers jumped on the Gophers early, converting on 11 of their first 14 field goals over the first 11 minutes to run out to a 19-point lead at 29-10.
“Do you want to have a start like that? Sure you do,” Ryan said. “I’d like to have a start like that, a middle like that and an finish like that.”
What the Badgers did during the start of the game was manufacture baskets their own way by probing the defense for good looks, passing to the open player and not forcing things offensively.
“We just did what we normally do,” forward Brian Butch said. “We moved the ball, looked for the extra players and we found the open guy. I think if you looked up the first 10 minutes or so, I think there were a bunch of guys that got off.”
Marcus Landry got the run started with seven quick points on three looks in the lane and a free throw. After Landry did his part, his teammates took over.
Five different Badgers scored in that stretch, led by Trevon Hughes’ 11 points, which included a breakaway dunk off one of his season-high six steals. Brian Butch scored five, and Michael Flowers had three. Guard Jason Bohannon broke out of his recent shooting slump to drain a 3-pointer that capped the run and came off one of Joe Krabbenhoft’s three early assists. Krabbenhoft would finish with a game-high five assists for the game.
“It was like (everybody had) seven to five (points) and everybody had enough,” Butch said.
While Wisconsin finished the first half with a scorching 1.37 points per possession, the Badgers’ defense forced Minnesota into some tough looks.
“The defense is what gets [runs] started,” Hughes said. “If the shots aren’t falling down, you can always go back and play good defense. … Play good defense, and you get results out of that.”
Just like they did their last time out, the Badgers built a 20-point lead in the second half thanks to scrappy defense and solid rebounding. This time, however, there was no Eric Gordon to shoot the opposition back into the game, and Wisconsin ran away with a win in hostile territory.
“Indiana game, same thing,” Butch said. “We had a big lead and let it slip a little too much. We just keep on playing hard and keep trying to do the right things.”
On its way to a relatively easy double-digit win, the only tense moments down the stretch for Wisconsin came when Flowers appeared to injure his elbow going after a loose ball. The guard left the game clutching his right arm close to his body and looked to be in pain as the UW training staff worked on him on the sideline.
After a few minutes on the bench, Flowers returned looking no worse for the wear.
Anonymous (February 4, 2008 @ 10:40am):
Wow there was a Wisconsin game with a dateline this weekend that got buried by an NFL wire?
Anonymous (February 4, 2008 @ 7:21pm):
Another great lead from Ben Voelkel. Keep up the good work.
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