MILWAUKEE—If there is one word to describe the UW men's basketball team's first 10 games, it would be ""depth."" For the Badgers, that depth proved to be worth a big win Saturday at the Bradley Center as head coach Bo Ryan pulled a rabbit out of his hat in freshman guard Trevon Hughes.
""Coaches get by on gut feelings a lot and sometimes guys get let go for gut feelings,"" Ryan said after the game. ""But I just thought Trevon, in this type of game ... he's a guy who would stick his nose in there and stay with his feet.""
Wisconsin (9-1) beat Marquette (9-2) 70-66 and while senior forward Alando Tucker stole the show with 28 points, it was hard to ignore the impact Hughes had in his first game receiving significant minutes.
""He really hasn't played very much, but for him to come in and take care of the ball and do some things, he did get some steals, get some deflections, that was huge,"" Ryan said.
In 18 minutes, Hughes only had two points, both off free throws, but the freshman ran the point and dished out two assists, tallied three steals and pulled down five rebounds. More importantly he helped shut down Marquette's sophomore guard combination of Dominic James, Jerel McNeal and Wesley Matthews.
Ryan opted to use Hughes instead of freshman Jason Bohannon, who did not play for the first time this season. While it may have been a ""gut feeling,"" it was one that made sense as Ryan said Hughes' quicker feet allowed him to stay with Marquette's quicker guards.
""[Hughes] has so much potential and he doesn't even realize it yet,"" Tucker said. ""Players get discouraged when they aren't getting a lot of minutes but we always stress to keep working and us as seniors, we push that out of them. He is going to be a great player, him and Jason Bohannon.""
Landry's homecoming
Hughes was not the only bench player who showed the Badgers' depth Saturday, as sophomore forward Marcus Landry returned home and gave UW a much-needed spark.
With Marquette's lack of size but plethora of athleticism, Ryan opted to use Landry and Tucker as his big men and it paid off. While junior centers Brian Butch and Greg Stiemsma along with senior forward Jason Chappell only played a combined 31 minutes, Landry and fellow sophomore Joe Krabbenhoft combined for 50 and Landry made the most of it.
""I guess the adrenaline was just flowing,"" Landry said. ""I try to do this every game. I'm just in the game and in there to help my team do what it takes. And I guess I did that today.""
Landry had a season-high 11 points, but it was his four blocks that really stood out.
""Marcus today had a couple of unbelievable blocks that saved our guards,"" senior guard Kammron Taylor said.
Taylor specifically went into detail about a block Landry had in the second half when Marquette freshman guard David Cubillan got loose on a fast break but Landry got back to make the stop. The sophomore showed off his athleticism as Cubillan switched hands in mid-air but Landry made the adjustment in the air and pinned the ball on the backboard.
Landry played high school ball at Milwaukee Vincent and Saturday was his first return to the city in his college career.
Shoot around
Taylor played most of Saturday's game as the No. 2 guard with junior Michael Flowers and Hughes playing the point. Former Madison highschool standout and Marquette guard Wesley Matthews struggled for the second straight year and is now 5-for-23 in two games against UW.
