While it wasn’t the prettiest of games played, the No. 2 Wisconsin men’s basketball team still found a way to rebound from their first lost of the season and defeat cross-state rival Marquette 49-38 Saturday in Milwaukee in the 121st meeting between the two schools.

The low-scoring affair was a result of poor shooting by both teams throughout the game, as neither team could get into any kind of offensive rhythm from tip-off to the final buzzer.

“I think Marquette really wanted to make it an ugly game,” redshirt senior guard Josh Gasser said.

Ugly it was, as in the first half Wisconsin (8-1) shot 8-for-24 (33.3 percent) from the field and 4-for-14 (28.6 percent) from the three-point line while adjusting to Marquette’s (4-4) 2-3 zone, a scheme the Badgers had not yet seen this year.

It was Wisconsin’s worst first-half shooting performance of the year, but despite that, the team still went into the locker room at halftime with a 25-15 lead because Marquette found a way to shoot even poorer.

The Golden Eagles shot 6-for-21 (28.6 percent) from the field and 2-for-6 (33.3 percent) from behind the arc in the first half.

Despite their offensive struggles, the Badgers were able to use their size and strength inside on defense to limit the Golden Eagles’ good looks at the basket.

“People were shooting with confidence,” senior forward Frank Kaminsky said. “Shots weren’t falling today, but we picked up our game in other ways.”

Kaminsky was Wisconsin’s leader on both sides of the ball on Saturday recording 15 points and 10 rebounds – his fourth double double of the season – to go along with three blocks and four steals on the defensive side of the ball.

Even when Kaminsky wasn’t blocking shots, his mere presence was enough to force Marquette into tough shots at the rim as they tried to avoid the seven-footer when attacking the basket. The Golden Eagles’ inability to get good shots lead to scoring droughts throughout the game that would last up to seven minutes.

But, even with the Kaminsky-lead defensive effort by Wisconsin, Marquette was still able to crawl to within one point of the Badgers with just under nine minutes to play in the second half.

From there, however, Wisconsin went on a 9-0 run for the next seven minutes that was kicked off by a Gasser three. Gasser, who had been struggling with his three-point shot as of late, shot 4-for-8 (50 percent) from the behind the arc, giving him 12 points, joining Kaminsky as the only Badgers in double figures.

“We really needed those [threes by Gasser in the second half],” Ryan said. “His two staredowns got the other guys moving a little bit. Josh never gets cheated. He never gets cheated.”

With 48 seconds remaining and the shot clock winding down, Kaminsky hit a three to put the Badgers up nine and the game officially out of reach for Marquette.

Junior forward Sam Dekker continued to struggle as he nurses an ankle injury that he suffered in the preseason. In just 22 minutes, Dekker was only able to manage two points and five rebounds.

Overall, despite the team struggles and not getting all of the offensive contributions they may have liked from some players, Wisconsin was just happy to walk away with a win, no matter how ugly the game had to get.

“I don’t care if we win 1-0,” Gasser said. “As long as we beat Marquette.”

Wisconsin will head back to Milwaukee to take on another in-state rival in UW-Milwaukee on Wednesday at 8 p.m.