In a game described as having no flow, the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team was still able to cruise to a 79-62 win over in-state rival UW-Green Bay Wednesday.
No. 9 Wisconsin (2-0) jumped out to a 22-4 lead over UW-Green Bay (0-2) early, riding a 14-point run in the first half.
With a well-balanced inside-outside game in the half-court swing offense, the Badgers were able to take the Phoenix out of its run-and-gun transition style of play.
"There was absolutely zero flow to that game," UWGB head coach Tod Kowalczyk said.
"We're a team that needs to play in transition, and Wisconsin is just the opposite."
Wisconsin's fast start was exactly what it wanted after letting teams hang around in games last year, including the game against UW-Green Bay last year in which the Phoenix actually led by one point in the second half.
"Looking at last year's game, Green Bay gave us a challenge," UW senior forward Alando Tucker said. "So we wanted to definitely prove that we are the better team.
"At times last year, we used to start out very slowly," Tucker added. "That's one of things we've made a conscious effort to do this year, making sure we have a fast start."
Despite Wisconsin's hot start, the game was still a hard-fought battle as UW-Green Bay refused to go away. Down 45-29 going into halftime, the Phoenix came back out in second half with an added fire and cut the deficit to as little as 11 points.
"They came out with a lot of energy in the second half," UW senior guard Kammron Taylor said. "We just didn't match their energy the first couple of minutes [of the second half], but we caught ourselves in time, and it was good we have experience on our team to be able to."
But in the end, the pace of the game held the Phoenix back.
With 47 total fouls called, UWGB was never able to speed up the game as it would've liked.
"Both teams were playing hard," UW head coach Bo Ryan said. "We always say that every time these teams play each other, it is going to be a dog fight.
"It is hard to get in the flow and get moving when both teams are battling toe-to-toe."
While UW-Green Bay's leading scorer Ryan Evanochko poured in a game-high 19 points, he, too, struggled to get into the flow of things, shooting 9-for-22 from the field.
Tucker led Wisconsin with 18 points with guards Taylor and Michael Flowers chipping in 12 each.
Even though the slow, half-court tempo suited Wisconsin, UW-Green Bay managed to maintain a strong presence down low, out-rebounding the Badgers 40-33.
Forward Mike Schachtner kept the Phoenix in the game, scoring 12 first-half points. Schachtner was able to open up the UW-Green Bay offense with his outside shooting, draining 2-of-3 three-pointers.
"Mike Schachtner, I thought, played a very good basketball game, spacing the floor," Kowalczyk said. "We tried to invert a little bit and get shots from the perimeter."
For Wisconsin's Greg Stiemsma and UW-Green Bay's Ryan Tillema, the Randolph High reunion was bitter-sweet as both got into foul trouble. Stiemsma only played four minutes with three fouls, and Tillema drew two quick fouls to take him out of the game early.
Wednesday's game against UW-Green Bay was the first of three in-state games for Wisconsin, with Marquette and UW-Milwaukee on schedule for early December, and it's a rivalry Ryan believes will prepare the Badgers for Big Ten play.
"The state competition has always helped us with Big Ten play," Ryan said. "They are always physical and hard-fought games that are really competitive."
