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Trailing by 11 points with eight minutes to play in the
first half against an opponent not expected to present much of a challenge, the
UW men's basketball team did not panic Sunday. Instead, Wisconsin shored up its
defense, settled into its offense and went on a 22-5 run to close the half en
route to an 83-55 victory over Indiana Purdue-Fort Wayne in the team's regular
season opener.
IPFW freshman guard Ben Botts hit three 3-pointers midway
through the first half to help the Mastodons extend their early lead to 27-16
as UW was unable to offer much defensively from the onset of the contest, but
the Badgers weren't about to let a shaky start doom their season opener.
"Every team has their times when they get down by 11
points," junior Marcus Landry said after the game. "I knew we had it in us to
win the game."
Behind the play of sophomore guard Trevon Hughes, who scored
13 of his career-high 25 points during the run at the end of the half, the Badgers
quickly diagnosed the team's problems and made an adjustment.
"They were pushing the ball harder than we were," Hughes
said. "We just had to pick up our intensity."
In addition to Hughes, senior guard Michael Flowers also
helped to key the Wisconsin defense as it got back on track, allowing the team
to win handily against the nonconference foe.
"We went on that run there, and when I saw some of the
things [Flowers] was doing, that was the difference," head coach Bo Ryan said.
"Then everybody else picked it up."
By the time the second half rolled around, the Badgers had
all but shut down the Mastodons' ability to hit the long ball — IPFW shot 41.7
percent from behind the arc in the first half but only 15.4 percent in the
second–and looked more like the squad that the announced crowd of 17,190 had
anticipated seeing.
"They were hitting a lot of 3s. You live by the 3; you die
by the 3," Landry said of IPFW's offense and how UW responded. "We picked up
our defense."
According to Landry, it was the defense of Flowers that was
able to lock up the Mastodon shooters after they had got off to their hot
start.
"Mike is a very good defensive player," Landry said. "Just
having his presence in the game … it always helps the team. He's the type of guy
that can get shooters out of their comfort zone."
Flowers, recognized as a member of the Big Ten's
all-defensive team last year, did not start the game Sunday. Though he started
all 36 of Wisconsin's game last season, Flowers also came off the bench in both
of the preseason exhibition games leading up to the opener. The senior ended up
playing 30 minutes, second most on the team, while finishing with five points,
four assists and four rebounds.
"Nobody put him there. It's just the way things have played
out," Ryan said of Flowers’ position on the bench to start the game. "Just take
a look at the minutes. I think it all speaks for itself."
The guard play of Flowers and Hughes didn't end up being the
only deciding factor of the game, however — at least not in the eyes of IPFW
coach Dane Fife.
"I think ultimately it came down to their size and
strength," Fife said.
The Badgers, with their myriad of big men, were able to rely
on their size to get by a Mastodon roster that didn't give much playing time to
anyone over 6-foot-8. Wisconsin finished with a 43-31 edge in rebounds, and the
team finished with five blocked shots in comparison to IPFW's two.
"Ultimately, we just couldn't keep them off the glass," Fife
said. "It was happening time and time again, and we have to either grow some
more or jump higher because rebounds just crushed us."
Senior forward Brian Butch led the way on the boards,
finishing with 24 points and 13 rebounds while juniors Greg Stiemsma and Landry
also chipped in seven and six boards, respectively.
After
a solid showing in its opener, Wisconsin will now get a chance to rest before a
tiring set of games next weekend. Starting Friday the Badgers will host
Savannah State, Florida A&M and Colorado in consecutive days as part of the
America's Youth Classic tournament.