The UW men's basketball team might not have its starting lineup finalized, but through two exhibition games, the starting guard tandem of sophomore Trevon Hughes and junior Joe Krabbenhoft has sparkled.
Just three days after scoring 11 points apiece against Edgewood College, the duo came out hot Wednesday night as Wisconsin downed UW-Eau Claire 74-35 at the Kohl Center.
Krabbenhoft and Hughes once again led the Badgers in scoring as they both netted 13 points. Hughes was 5-for-7, while Krabbenhoft was an even more impressive 6-for-7. Wisconsin shot 50 percent on the game as a team.
Some of my teammates found me for wide open layups, and it's my job to just put them in at that point. But overall, I just thought everyone did a great job of playing Wisconsin basketball tonight,"" Krabbenhoft said.
Head coach Bo Ryan used the same starting lineup as he did Sunday. The lineup included junior forward Marcus Landry, senior forward Brian Butch and senior center Greg Stiemsma, while senior guard Michael Flowers came off the bench for the second straight game. Flowers, who returned from a two-week leave of absence just eight days ago, started every game for the Badgers a year ago, and it would be surprising if he was not a regular starter this season.
Still, Krabbenhoft is making it hard to guess who the starting five will be. The junior started at Ohio State late last season, but it was Landry who became the regular starter after Butch went down with an elbow injury in the same game. It's only been two exhibition games, but Krabbenhoft has shot a combined 11-for-15 in those games and is emerging as a legitimate offensive weapon.
""Well, you know, all these guys were scorers in high school and you don't just lose it,"" Ryan said. ""[Krabbenhoft] just plays the game. He doesn't worry about what position or anything else. He played two or three positions out there tonight. He's just a player.""
As for the game itself, Wisconsin got off to a slow start and only held an 18-16 lead with 11 minutes to go in the first half. That is the closest the Blugolds would get, however. The Badgers went on a 20-4 run over the next 10:43 and went to the locker room with a 38-23 halftime lead.
""The [bluegold player] hit some threes and they hit some tough shots,"" Ryan said. ""You try to eliminate as many of those runs as you can. So really they only had one good run and they were well over one point per possession when you hit two threes over three possessions. That's six points right there. So you have to chip into that. You aren't going to get it all back at once.""
The Badgers did get it all back quickly, however, and the UW defense never let down as UW-Eau Claire scored only 12 points in the second half.
Flowers, Leuer struggle
Mr. Hustle came off the bench with as much energy as he did Sunday, but the senior guard's shots would not fall. Flowers finished with just three points on 1-of-6 shooting, and he started 0-for-5.
Meanwhile, freshman forward Jon Leuer came back down to Earth Wednesday as well. After leading the Badgers with 15 points against Edgewood, Leuer tallied only 1 point against the Blugolds, while missing all three of his field goal attempts.
""[Leuer] was not as smooth because some things were taken away from him. But then that doesn't mean Jon isn't going to come out and do some things. That's all part of developing,"" Ryan said.
Junior forward Kevin Gullikson did not play for the second straight game with an ankle injury.
Win a long time coming
Wednesday's game against UW-Eau Claire marked a rematch for Ryan against Blugolds' head coach Terry Gibbons. Gibbons handed Ryan his final loss at UW-Platteville in 1999 - a loss that preceded a 12-game win streak and Ryan's fourth and final NCAA title run.
""I wasn't going to show him the net we cut down,"" Ryan said jokingly. ""I wouldn't do that to him. He's a good guy. That loss probably helped us get to the National Championship. It was one of those nights where you come out on the short end and our guys didn't back away from the next team we played, or the next one or the next one or the next one. They made us stop because there weren't anymore games to play.
