The Kohl Center provided many familiar sights Wednesday night-from senior forward Mike Wilkinson's always consistent presence on the floor to Head Coach Bo Ryan angrily challenging a referee's call. However, perhaps most exciting about the 81-42 blow-out over UW-Parkside was not only the new look of the arena, but the new look of the team.
No player received as much excited applause coming off the bench as freshman forward Brian Butch. After redshirting his freshman year, Butch came in two minutes into the first half, scoring a hook shot in the paint on his first possession.
Butch played sporadic minutes, as did the rest of the younger players, exchanging time with sophomore forward Alando Tucker, Wilkinson, senior guard Clayton Hanson and sophomore guard Kammron Taylor. Butch finished the game with 13 points in 15 minutes and brought the most praise out of any player from Ryan.
\Statistically it looked pretty good,"" Ryan said. ""What he did was he brought some energy ... I think he was just anxious to play. Just happy to get on the court. He seemed happy, didn't he?""
Butch said it felt good after sitting the bench for a year to be able to get out on the floor again.
""There [were] four guys who sat out all of last year,"" Butch said. ""It's one of those things where it's tough to sit out a whole year being competitors that we are.""
The position still eliciting the most questions for the team was at the point guard. Ryan rotated the position, providing time for senior guard Sharif Chambliss, Taylor and freshman Michael Flowers who combined for 43 minutes and 18 points-11 of which were Taylor's. Nonetheless, Ryan was not willing to sing anyone's praises, noting the team's 15 turnovers.
""At times there were some really nice things, at other times [it was] 'let's get some experience and put a few notches on the belt and play on,'"" Ryan said. ""[The guard play was] average, it will get better.""
