It certainly wasn’t pretty, but the the Badgers found a way to get by the Arizona Wildcats in a physical opening round of the Maui Invitational last night as they earned a 65-61 victory.?

Wisconsin jumped out to an early lead only too see?their?advantage wither away as the entire team went into a cold-spell offensively. Led by an impressive 25-point performance from freshman Derrick Williams, Arizona stormed back and tied the game at 55 with a little over two minutes to go.?

From there, Trevon Hughes and Keaton Nankivil closed out the game for UW, and a steal by Hughes in the final stages sealed the victory for Bo Ryan and his squad.?

Here are some quick observations from UW’s thrilling tournament opener:

1. Hughes is emerging as a leader

The UW point guard led the team in scoring with 24 points, but it was the late steal that spoke to Hughes’ leadership. The senior guard had been struggling at the free throw line, but he continued to work on the defensive end and that pushed the Badgers to a late victory.?

2. Nankivil is showing some explosiveness

Keaton Nankivil missed a couple dunks early on some rebound attempts, but he made sure to finish when it mattered most. In the final minutes, Nankivil had two powerful dunks to secure the win and he showed a newfound aggressiveness around the rim whenever he was on the floor.

3. Depth down-low is concerning?

When John Leuer and Keaton Nankivil got into some foul trouble early, the Badgers sputtered on offense. Those two are going to need to stay away from foul trouble for this team to effectively run it’s offense, beacuse to be honest, the guys behind them just don’t seem ready.?

4. Free throw shooting is another area of concern

Not much to be said here, but Hughes, Taylor, Nankivil and company have got to hit their free throws otherwise these close games wont end with a “W”.?

5. Bruesewitz shows flashes

The true freshman forward is contemplating taking a redshirt, but Monday night he showed that he is ready to contribute. He doesn’t need to play a huge role, but Bruesewitz has a very high basketball IQ and his toughness and athleticism can provide this team with some production off the bench.?