After a five-game road trip, the men's basketball team tipped off Saturday in the home game opener, with a crowd of 15,671 cheering it on to victory. In the contest, the Badgers scored 70 points to UW-Green Bay's 57, bringing their record to 2-4.
Badger Head Coach Bo Ryan, earning his first home victory as head coach, said he was pleased with his team's effort.
\I just thought we did handle it better,"" Ryan said. ""It's not where we want to hit, but I was impressed with the way our spacing was better; the cuts were harder.""
The players, on the other hand, were content with the win.
Junior guard Kirk Penney said, ""It was definitely a tough loss [to Georgia Tech Nov. 28] and I think we really felt it, but ... we feel great to get a win right now.""
""It meant a lot,"" said sophomore guard Freddie Owens, who earned 12 points for UW. ""We got home and got a rest and got ahead today and competed'we got the win.""
The 70-57 victory came without much difficulty, as Wisconsin dominated on both sides of the ball in the first half. With the assistance of Penney, senior center Charlie Wills and freshman guard Devin Harris, the Badgers outscored the Phoenix 41-21, partly the result of a Phoenix dry spell late in the first period.
""I thought defensively we played well,"" Ryan said. ""Maybe the shots were quick or the shots were off-balance or the pass wasn't where it quite needed to be, and you have to take those runs and you have to play with them.""
UW-Green Bay Head Coach Mike Heideman attributed UWGB's failure to
score on Wisconsin's defense.
""They are well-coached,"" Heideman said of Wisconsin, ""and they play extremely hard.""
Heideman also criticized his own team for its lack of offense.
""In the execution part of the game, we needed to do a much better job,"" Heideman said. ""I thought our kids weren't aggressive enough with this team.""
Offensively, the Badgers had a consistent shooting percentage in the two periods, hitting 55.6 percent in the first half and 54.2 percent in the second.
A Phoenix burst of energy in the last minutes of play allowed Green Bay 12 points to UW's four, one reason for the difference in scoring.
""For 35 minutes, I thought [Wisconsin] handled the screens and the dribble penetrations well,"" Ryan said. ""Green Bay did catch fire ... and became more aggressive with the ball, and they became more aggressive defensively.""
Green Bay junior center Greg Babcock also proved to be a challenge for the Badgers, as he had seven field goals and five free throws for a game-high 19 points.
""He's very talented,"" Wills commented. ""He's also very athletic. You have to be very physical and you just have to keep angling because he's not going to stop.\
