Faced with the first quality opponent the Wisconsin basketball team has seen since March, the Badgers treated Oakland the same way they treated fellow Summit League member Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne last Sunday.

In particular, they took control of the game midway through the first half with tough defense and efficient offense, then went on cruise control until the final score read 58-42.

With Oakland being picked to finish first in the Summit League and possessing preseason conference player of the year in big man Keith Benson, however, this double-digit win was a little more impressive.

“Benson and [Will] Hudson as a combo, the Summit league better get ready for those two,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said.

For Wisconsin, the first half was all about point guard Trevon Hughes.

Seemingly able to get to any spot on the floor at will, the senior floor general led the team in scoring (13 points), rebounds (five) and assists (three) at halftime. Most importantly, Hughes reached the charity stripe six times — knocking down all six — in the first half, putting the Oakland big men in foul trouble.

“I thought Trevon Hughes … late in the first half really dictated the tempo of the game and made some great plays,” Oakland head coach Greg Kampe said. “And was able to open the score up, so we really didn’t have a chance.”

Faced with an in-your-face defense, Hughes was able to handle the ball pressure and exploit the openings the Golden Grizzlies left as a result.

Coming out of a timeout with 10:56 left in the first half, the Badgers dialed up a backdoor cut to junior Tim Jarmusz to exploit the deny-defense. According to Hughes, that is when the UW offense really started to click.

“I was just taking advantage of them being overly aggressive,” Hughes said. “On the wing we had a backdoor to Tim Jarmusz, and our offense is (ready) for pressure, especially the guards and I think I am quick enough to drive by anybody.”

Never one to dole out too much praise for his players, Ryan pointed out that Hughes significantly slowed down in the second half and finished the game with four turnovers.

When asked what “Pop” gave him, Ryan quipped, “a headache.”

“Because on some of those passes he tried there was no way in the world,” Ryan said. “That would be like taking a needle, and taking a thread and throwing it through the eye of the needle. I don’t think Pop can do that.”

Only shooting 41.5 percent for the game and finishing with 13 assists to 15 turnovers, the Badger offense fell off track in the second half.

The score still never got closer than 13 points in the final 20 minutes, however, in large part because the Wisconsin defense limited any and all opportunities for Oakland.

The Golden Grizzlies finished shooting 27.3 percent — the lowest for a UW opponent since the Badgers held Michigan to 20 percent shooting in a 2008 Big Ten Tournament game — and with fewer points than the Wisconsin football team scored Saturday against Michigan.

According to Kampe, some of the shooting woes can be chalked up to simply having a bad night from the perimeter.

“I don’t think Wisconsin is an in-your-face pressure defense. I think they are a pack defense that protects the basket. So one would say maybe had more to do with it than them,” Kampe said of the poor 3-point shooting. “Now, shooting by the basket — that was them.”

With his team struggling to consistently score as well, Ryan pointed out how early it still is on the schedule.

“People are trying to find their rhythm right now,” he said. “Hopefully we are going to have some nights where somebody is going to have to pay for us having the open looks we have. We had some great looks tonight, and I think we can knock those down in the future.”

After saying his goal was to have the fewest blocked shots in the nation after the IPFW game, the Badgers came out and rejected eight Oakland shots, including two in a row by Nankivil that got the crowd on its feet in the second half.

Combined with the 11 blocks against IPFW, the Badgers have 19 blocks on the season, after registering only three games with six or more blocks all of last season.

“Well, it might be the size of the teams we are playing right now, so we don’t overreact to statistics,” Ryan said. “Teams are aggressive going to the rim, they are looking to draw some fouls, and we are disciplined enough to not leave our feet until after they show their move first.”