The UW men's basketball team started off the South Padre Invitational with a victory in the Kohl Center Sunday afternoon mostly because of the turnovers it was able to force.
While Southern was a tournament team last season, losing their experience from a year ago hurt them in the turnover department. UW was able to force 25 turnovers and only allow three assists on its way to winning the second-most lopsided victory margin in school history.
""They were young, and some of the decisions they made helped us,"" head coach Bo Ryan stated following the game. ""But again, it wasn't because we were doing things that we don't normally do defensively.""
The turnovers are what sent Southern packing as UW was able to capitalize with 37 points off turnovers compared to six by Southern.
""I mean, it's an inexperienced team, it wasn't like we were gambling,"" Ryan said. ""Only one time did we overextend with the wrong hand going into the passing lane and get beaten.""
Another area UW was able to flex its muscles and dominate Southern was the battle for points in the paint. The Badgers scored 44 points inside the paint while Southern was only able to muster 12. Coach Ryan attributes the play of the UW big men to the fast start that really did not give Southern a chance.
""If you're playing a smaller quicker team, if you want to stay on the floor, you've got to move your feet and just do the things we do in practice,"" Ryan said. ""[The UW big men] did a good job of helping recover, [and] they did a good job of moving their feet, but that's got to continue and get better.""
Throughout the game, it seemed that Southern never really got comfortable with their game plan, and they may be attributed to the way the Badgers were able to stifle them and force them into the turnovers that inevitably turned the Jaguars in.
""They were running offense [and] I thought we did a good job of taking them out of what they were trying to do,"" Ryan said. ""Then with the young team that they have, they began to force it, and that's how we got the turnovers.""
