Much ado has been made in the preseason about Wisconsin starting a pair of senior guards for the first time since Sharif Chambliss and Clayton Hanson suited up for the UW basketball team in 2004.
Now Bemidji State knows why.
The senior backcourt duo of Trevon Hughes and Jason Bohannon lit into the Beavers early during Wednesday night’s exhibition game, contributing to 12 of the Badgers first 14 points with either assists or a made basket.
Along with putting points on the scoreboard, Hughes helped put Bemidji on their heels early drawing blocking fouls.
“The one thing that Wisconsin does have that maybe they haven’t had in the past is Hughes,” Bemidji State head coach Matt Bowen said. “We couldn’t keep him in front of us. He played three minutes and he got three fouls immediately, just by penetrating and creating offense. I’m not sure that Wisconsin has had a guard like that in a while.”
Of course, when asked about Hughes’ quickness, UW head coach Bo Ryan disagreed with Bowen downplaying his senior point guard’s abilities.
“I don’t know, Devin (Harris) wasn’t too bad,” Ryan said about Bowen’s comments on Hughes. “Travon Davis had a good senior year. … Kam Taylor was (quick) when he did play the point some. Let me put it this way, Trevon is quicker than Sharif Chambliss.”
Both Bohannon and Hughes shot the ball well against an athletically inferior Bemidji State squad, finishing with 14 and eight points, respectively.
Hughes attempted only four shots during the game and Bohannon connected on 3-of-6 3-point attempts. The guards excellent shooting percentages mirrored the team which finished the game shooting over 52 percent.
“Just opportunistic,” Ryan said about the play of his veteran backcourt. “Not trying to make overplays. Just trying to make the good plays. That’s good. We are going to play tougher people, athletically on the ball and quickness and things like that, but you still have to play the game.”
With Hughes and Bohannon returning as the two leading scorers for UW from last season, putting up points should surprise no one. Both guards flashed playmaking ability for others, however, combining for 13 assists to just four turnovers.
As if to prove they could do more than shoot the ball, the two assisted on four of Wisconsin’s first six baskets.
“We had some good passes tonight and we had some good reads,” Bohannon said. “You know, it led to some assists, but we look more towards the four turnovers we had. I felt like a couple of those I probably shouldn’t have thrown that pass or I probably should have made a better read and bounced it in there.”
A point of emphasis in the offseason for the Badgers was working on finishing plays in the lane.
On the very first bucket of the game, Bohannon found junior forward Jon Leuer under the rim and watched the big man throw down a pretty wraparound pass.
“We worked very hard throughout spring and summer during pick up games to get in the lane and finish strong,” Bohannon said. “I drove baseline and kind of got stuck there and Jon [Leuer] made a good cut towards the basket to get open. And rather than just laying it in or trying to draw a foul he went up and dunked it strong.”
Walk-ons impress
With the Badger bench clearing in the last 10 minutes of the second half, the 17,230 in attendance very well may have seen the only glimpses of junior walk-on Wquinton Smith and freshman walk-on Dan Fahey Wisconsin fans will get this season.
Smith finished with three points, while Fahey grabbed two rebounds in seven and four minutes of play, respectively.
Ryan singled both out as players that impressed him on the floor.
“At the end there, Dan [Fahey] and Q [Smith] defensively,” Ryan said. “And you are probably thinking, ‘what is he talking about?’, but you got to appreciate the game, and love the game. … I’ll bet when we look at those possessions defensively, those two guys did a great job.”
