The Wisconsin men's basketball team (4-1 overall) lost its first game of the season Wednesday night 90-80 to Wake Forest (3-0) at the Kohl Center.
Wake Forest senior forward Josh Howard scored a career-high 31 points and grabbed nine rebounds in the victory.
\I thought Josh made some key plays when Wisconsin closed the gap and right there on the precipice of taking over the game,"" Wake Forest Head Coach Skip Prosser said.
Sophomore guard Devin Harris and junior guard Freddie Owens led the Badgers with 19 points each. The Badgers trailed the majority of the game and while they made comebacks, Howard and Wake Forest always seemed to gain control quickly.
""He scored off the dribble. He scored catch-and-shoot. He scored around the offensive board. He seemed fresh,"" UW Head Coach Bo Ryan said of Howard. ""He really made some things happen for them when it seemed like we got it going.""
Wake Forest established the interior, scoring 40 points in the paint compared to only 28 by Wisconsin. Most of those points were scored off second-chance opportunities and easy layups. The Badgers were outrebounded 37-27, which Ryan said contributed to the success of Wake Forest.
""They're pretty athletic down there when they get around the basket as far as keeping the ball alive, and that's how you're successful in getting offensive rebounds,"" he said.
""They did outrebound us by 10, so that is obviously something we need to improve on,"" UW senior guard Kirk Penney said. ""Just getting second chance points--that's where we've got to lock up and just get the job done.""
Wake Forest came out and grabbed an early 9-2 lead, which paced the tempo for the rest of the game.
""They got confidence early and they kept the run going,"" Penney said.
The Badgers had the lead momentarily on a three-pointer by freshman guard Alando Tucker with 5:31 left to go in the first half, but couldn't hold it as they trailed 39-29 at halftime.
Wake Forest came out strong in the second half and built a 13-point lead before UW mounted a huge comeback, which saw the game tied 57-57 on a three-pointer by Penney with 10:55 remaining in the game. The game never got any closer, as the Demon Deacons hit 15 of 15 free throws in the second half and put the game away.
""We had a good offensive night, but we let them have an even better offensive night,"" Owens said.
