The Badgers needed a boost Tuesday night against Florida State, and Alando Tucker provided it to them.
The senior forward led Wisconsin (6-1 overall) to an 81-66 victory over the Seminoles (4-2) with 22 points.
When Tucker rushed off the court after his eye was bleeding following a poke by Seminole sophomore guard Toney Douglass, the Badgers went on a rough skid. The team went over three minutes without a field goal, as their once nine-point lead was cut down to four at one point.
But Tucker emerged from the locker room and rushed onto the court, at which point he set himself and nailed a 3-pointer, sparking a run that pushed the Badger lead to 11 at the half, 34-23.
""I think the trainer told him to go out there [and said], ‘As soon as you get it, take a long shot and see how your vision is,'"" UW head coach Bo Ryan joked. ""I was kind of surprised he took it. I mean it's in our offense, if a guy is playing off of you, but I thought he would at least get used to the lights.""
The run was capped off by a wild 3-point try by Tucker, which was tapped in with one hand by junior forward Brian Butch at the buzzer. Later, both Butch and head coach Bo Ryan jokingly insisted the basket was the result of a set play. Butch emphasized the need for continuous growth as a team.
""The main thing that we have to do is we have to just keep on trying to improve,"" said Butch, who finished with 13 points. ""It's early in the season and we want our best to come late in the season. We want to show our improvements.""
The Badgers maintained a good lead, but the momentum seemed like it might shift when junior guard Michael Flowers' right foot came down awkwardly on the foot of a Seminole shooter. Though Flowers would later return, a subsequent basket by senior guard Jerel Allen cut the UW lead to nine.
But then the Badgers started to pull away. A 13-2 run sparked by two 3-pointers by senior guard Kammron Taylor and closed out by a long range shot by sophomore forward Joe Krabbenhoft propelled Wisconsin to a 20 point lead with just over 11 minutes to play.
""Everything started to click for us at that point,"" said Taylor who finished with 18 points on 6-of-9 shooting. ""We were moving the ball real well. We were taking what the defense was giving us.""
The beginning of the game was exceptionally sloppy. There were four combined turnovers, six missed shots and three combined fouls before the Badgers scored the game's first basket on a Butch tip-in with 2:45 gone by. The Badgers continued to go on a 9-0 run capped off by an alley-oop from Flowers to Tucker.
Wisconsin forced the Seminoles into 14 first-half turnovers and though FSU shot 42.3 percent from the field in the first half, the Badgers held their opponent to just 23 first half points.
""As good as [Wisconsin] is this year, they didn't need Florida State to come in and turn over the ball the first three, four possessions and give them any extra possessions in the first half,"" FSU head coach Leonard Hamilton said.
The Badgers also benefited from injuries to Florida State's star senior forward Al Thornton. Thornton played just seven minutes in the second frame and was helped off the floor twice due to cramps. He finished with 10 points, five rebounds and three blocks.
Florida State was led by Douglas' 24 points, while junior guard Jason Rich chipped in with 12.
The Badgers next take on Florida International Saturday in an afternoon game at the Kohl Center.
