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DURHAM, N.C. — From the opening tip, Wisconsin was
overmatched.

Duke (7-0) dictated the tempo and Wisconsin (5-1) couldn't
catch up, as it fell for the first time this season 82-58 at Cameron Indoor
Stadium. 

Wisconsin clung to Duke's intensity early, finding itself
trailing by just one about five minutes into the game. But a constricting
full-court press took the Badgers out of their game plan and forced them into
difficult shots and miscues.

"It might have been the best team I ever played," UW guard
Joe Krabbenhoft said, who finished with four points. "They imposed their will,
they really did."

Trevon Hughes, who entered the night leading Wisconsin in
scoring at 19.4 points per game, was shut down. He finished just 4 shots of 13
from the floor for 12 points, nine of those coming in the second half. The
sophomore also got into early foul trouble, making it harder for the UW offense
to function without its primary ball-handler.

"There's no question it affects what our plans were, but in
games you've got to figure out another way to get things done," UW head coach
Bo Ryan said.

Not only did Duke bring the intensity on defense, it also
outhustled a bigger Wisconsin team, leading to some easy buckets in transition
despite having played five games in nine days.

"We wanted to get up the court," Duke guard Gerald Henderson
said. "We thought that we were faster than them, a lot quicker than them, and
we thought the training that we do and the conditioning that we do could really
be used to our advantage, and I think we did that in the first half getting
some easy buckets."

They made them count. In the first half alone, Duke scored
14 points off Wisconsin turnovers compared to just one point going the other
way.

The fast-paced game also allowed the Blue Devils to spread
the court more and find open players on the outside. Duke used runs of 9-2, 8-2
and 11-4 highlighted by the three-ball to build a one point lead to 18, 36-18,
with 6:48 left in the first half.

"I think that stretch hurt our psyche," UW head coach Bo
Ryan said.

Freshman Taylor King and junior Greg Paulus combined for
five treys during that time.

"We were able to make it a perimeter game, and that's why we
won," Kryzewski said.

For the game, the two totaled 33 points and nine threes, and
were two of five players to score in double figures for the Blue Devils.

"Having guys that can really shoot the ball and drive really
spaces the floor, … and we get open shots," Henderson said.

Once the three-ball started dropping for Duke — it went 9 of
16 in the first half, 11 of 24 for the game — the crowd of 9,314 "Crazies"
kicked into high gear and made it almost impossible for Wisconsin.

"It really gives you a lot of energy even though you might
be tired and really pushes you," Henderson said.

By halftime Duke had built a 23-point cushion, 48-25.

Wisconsin played better in the second half, matching Duke
bucket for bucket, but in a game it trailed by nearly 20 points throughout, the
effort was not enough, as it faced such a grave deficit against a talented
team.

"If anything could go wrong for us, it did," Ryan said. "We
dug ourselves a hole … and when you're playing down in a hole like that, it's
almost impossible in a place like this to come back."

For all of the Wisconsin players who weren't quite sure how
playing at Cameron Indoor would be, they found out the hard way.

"When they talk about this place and how tough of a place to
play it is, I see why now," UW guard Joe Krabbenhoft said.

Still, Krabbenhoft made it a point to note the team learned
its lesson and won't let the mistakes that happened Tuesday night occur again.

"We were disappointed we didn't represent the Big Ten very
well, but we can play better than that, and, if given another opportunity, I
know we're going to play better next time," he said.

One player who didn't seem bothered by the noise or
atmosphere was freshman Jon Leuer, who had his best game as a Badger. He poured
in 12 points.

"He doesn't care about where he was playing," Ryan said. "He
might not even know he was here at Duke. Jon just plays, doesn't have an excuse
for anything, never says a word, he just plays."