The first 11 minutes of basketball essentially defined the game between the Wisconsin Badgers and the UW-River Falls Falcons.
Halfway through the first period, the Badger men's team held a commanding 26-4 lead and managed to play turnover-free basketball. The solid play paved the way to the Badgers' decisive 79-52 win.
While the Badgers' style of play is consistent with last season, there were new faces in the starting lineup and plenty more on the bench.
With junior forward Alando Tucker, the only returning starter from last season, the starting lineup for the Badgers was full of familiar, albeit lesser-seen faces. Ray Nixon, the team's lone senior, and junior Jason Chappell started at forward with Tucker. Sophomore Brian Butch tipped off at center with junior Kammron Taylor in at point guard.
The Badgers made River Falls wait four minutes for their first points and held them under 10 points until 2:36 remained in the first period.
'We came in here with no illusions,' UW-River Falls coach Rick Bowen said.
Bowen described his team as 'scared' coming into the game. The Falcons were outscored by 24 points in the first period.
'I was not happy with them at halftime,' Bowen said. 'Especially with my seniors.'
But UW-River Falls controlled their nerves and came out strong to start the second period, going on a 15-11 run, tallying two steals and three defensive rebounds. The second-period points were much closer than the final score reflected, with the Badgers outscoring the Falcons by just three.
Badger head coach Bo Ryan used the game, especially the second half, as an opportunity to test his freshmen in front of a Kohl Center crowd.
'We weren't playing against the size that we'll see later, but we're playing against tenacity that we might not see later either,' Ryan said. 'River Falls didn't care who they were playing, they just played hard and got after it and were very aggressive.'
Tucker shared the same feelings.
'I think coach Ryan had us ready, he prepared us well, and I think we understood coming out that we have to take every opponent seriously,' Tucker said.
Ryan said these games are helpful because they expose weaknesses, but they also provide the opportunity to see freshmen run and play with the veterans. Freshmen Joe Krabbenhoft and Marcus Landry got a solid number of minutes and were mentioned as freshmen who stood out.
'Marcus was pretty sound,' Ryan said. '[After missing his first dunk], the next time he went up, he went up with two hands and he got fouled and he got the bucket and he got the free throw and he made the free throw. So if a guy can learn that fast on the fly ... he's gonna be alright.'
