Known for his explosive crossover dribble and spin moves, Badger guard Freddie Owens showed off his defensive prowess this weekend in a series of Badger wins that resulted in a 2-0 start for the team and the NABC championship trophy.
Owens was named tournament MVP after holding Northern Illinois star P.J. Smith to just four points in the championship game. Smith had previously led the Huskies in scoring with a 15-point performance in their first round victory over Winthrop.
“Those kind of awards go to people not just by points scored but by defense and by who you shut down,” head coach Bo Ryan said.
Owens did, however, contribute on the offensive side of the ball as well. He scored 13 points in the Badgers’ first victory of the season, an 81-55 thrashing of Eastern Washington, before leading the team with a 19-point performance in the championship game against Northern Illinois (84-56).
Owens made 11 of his 24 field goals for the tournament, also making nine of 12 free throws. His 16-point-per-game average was second on the team behind the 22-point average of Kirk Penney.
Penney, along with Owens, was named to the NABC all-tournament team for his outstanding play over the weekend. Penney made 7 of 14 field-goal attempts in each game, including a blistering 5 of 6 three-point performance against Eastern Washington. Penney also averaged seven rebounds and two assists per game; however, he was overlooked for the tournament MVP, not to the surprise of Coach Ryan.
“Do I think it’s a good choice? I think it’s an excellent choice,” said Ryan of Owens being named MVP. “I thought Freddie did a pretty good job defensively, and I think that’s what people look at when [they] look at [the] total.”
The NABC championship game saw the Badgers led by a pair of usually secondary point scorers. In the first half it was Alando Tucker, who came off the bench with 17:10 on the clock to lead the Badger offense.
Tucker made an immediate impact as he hit a jump shot on his first touch and made a layup two possessions later to give the Badgers a lead they never relinquished. Tucker led the team with nine first-half points on 4-of-7 shooting.
“This is my first real game,” Tucker said. “I talked to Coach, and he talked to some of the guys and just told me to play my game, just come out there energized, contribute what I could and not try to do too much.”
In the second half it was Freddie Owens who came out on fire. After missing some easy layups in the first three quarters of the season, Owens started the half converting on his first three looks at the basket. Owens produced open looks for himself off dribble penetration and his elongated hang time. He scored seven points in the first six minutes of the half as the Badgers opened the half on a 17-4 run.
“It’s hard getting to the paint. When you do get in there the few times, you got to be strong with it,” Owens said. “That’s what [I tried] to focus on this summer so that I can work on my finishing better.”
Owens dominated early in the second half, as the Badgers eventually stretched the lead to 31 points late before winning 84-56. For Owens, the weekend marked his first tournament MVP and got the junior guard started off on the right foot this season.
“I try to focus more on team things,” Owens said. “As long as we win nothing really matters to me. I don’t care about individual awards, it was good winning [the MVP award], but the win feels better.”
The Badgers are off to a 2-0 start for the first time under head coach Ryan as they prepare to play Ryan’s old team, the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Nov. 23.
