Saturday night there was a sense of the old merging with the new at the Kohl Center. The new came courtesy of the seven freshmen dotting the bench for new Head Coach Bo Ryan.
But the attitude brought to the game reminded fans of former UW Head Coach Dick Bennett as a solid offensive effort'five Badgers scored in double-digits'brought the youthful Badgers a 95-64 victory over the EA Sports All-Stars in the 2001-'02 exhibition opener.
The game against EA Sports was UW's first nonscrimmage competition, and senior point guard Travon Davis said getting a chance to play against someone else was the fun part.
\Me and [freshman forward] Mike [Wilkinson] were standing outside [the media room] saying how good it was to beat up on somebody else,"" Davis said.
On the court one could sense that, despite the relative youth of the Badgers, they were going to be exciting to watch.
It did not take very long, as Wisconsin went on an early 11-2 run.
Rotating eight players for most of the opening half, UW extended its lead to 50-28 at intermission courtesy of 63.3 field goal percentage from the field.
While the game bogged down in the second half, EA Sports cut the deficit to seven as Wisconsin got sloppy and handed out turnovers to the All-Stars. All told, the Badgers gave the ball away 14 times.
The veterans looked as though they had been playing in the system for years as senior point guard Travon Davis, who scored 12 points, directed the offense and senior forward Charlie Wills hustled for nine rebounds.
But it was the play of freshman guard Devin Harris that made the crowd of 15,137 stand up and take notice.
Scoring a team-high 22 points, Harris, a 6'3' guard out of Milwaukee, electrified the crowd with his cross-over moves and leaping ability.
The output of points was not unprecedented as Harris was a top scorer in high school, averaging 25.3 points per game as a senior for Wauwatosa East.
As for Harris himself, he said he felt right at home on the Kohl Center floor.
""I think I felt very comfortable,"" Harris said. ""I was kind of relaxed before the game.""
Despite the good start to the season, Ryan said the next step is to look at film and continue to progress.
""We'll look at the tape and throw some drills in Monday,"" Ryan said. ""We'll keep solidifying the things that we did well. They didn't happen by accident.""
UW's final exhibition game is Tuesday at the Kohl Center against Athletes in Action at 7 p.m.
