The defense stole the show again as the UW men's basketball team downed Savannah State 79-32 in its first game of the America's Youth Classic at the Kohl Center.
The Badgers (2-0 overall) were once again led by sophomore Trevon Hughes who tallied 21 points on 5-of-8 shooting. The point guard made both of his 3-point attempts, grabbed five rebounds and shot 7-of-8 from the free throw line. Still, Hughes was not completely happy with his play.
I wasn't thinking about scoring 20 points so far,"" Hughes said. ""And can I keep it up? Probably, but that's not my game. I'm supposed to get my teammates the ball. I didn't do that tonight and I feel badly. I think I could have done a better job than that.""
Hughes, who scored a game-high 25 in Sunday's season opener, did only have one assist while turning the ball over twice, but teammate junior guard Joe Krabbenhoft was quick in the post game press conference to back Hughes' displeasure with his own support.
""I'll take that stat line from him again,"" Krabbenhoft said.
After trailing IPFW by 11 in the first half Sunday, UW avoided a similar start Thursday by jumping out to an early 17-0 lead over the first six minutes. Hughes scored five of his points in that stretch, but it was mainly size that allowed the Badgers to score early and often. Wisconsin tallied 38 points in the paint.
""They were very athletic and they were quick, but I think our size and overall length overtook their athleticism,"" senior center Greg Stiemsma said.
Stiemsma was a huge presence down low in 20 minutes of action, scoring 10 points, grabbing eight rebounds and dishing out four assists.
""He's got the ability to be a good passer. He's got the ability to be a good finisher around the basket and we know he can hit that 17-footer,"" head coach Bo Ryan said about Stiemsma. ""When he can put them all together - I mean what guy 6'11' can put all those together all the time? That's very rare. If you take [a] look at bigs around the country, he's a better passer than a lot of them, can hit a 17-footer, probably 50 or 60 percent of them. And you know we value his strength.""
UW also benefited from a great night at the line. Overall, the Badgers shot 80 percent (28-for-35) from the free throw line and their starters only missed two of 25 attempts. Both Krabbenhoft and Stiemsma went a perfect 6-for-6 from the line - a trend opposite of what has been plaguing Ryan's teams for several years now.
""We expect to get to the free throw line as many times as we did tonight,"" Krabbenhoft said. ""Attacking the basket and [Hughes] taking care of the ball and when people come in and try to steal the ball, those are fouls so they got to call them. So we just need to step up and knock them down, especially here at home.""
No redshirt for Jarmusz
With three minutes left in the game and a win well at hand, freshman swingman Tim Jarmusz entered the game, ending any possibility of redshirting his freshman season.
""I think what Tim showed the last few days in practice determined for him and his family and also for Coach Ryan that a redshirt isn't needed for him and that he is ready to play,"" Krabbenhoft said.
Gavinski, the joke's on you
Freshman forward J.P. Gavinski went 0-for-3 in four minutes Thursday while hitting one free throw. After, Ryan could not resist giving the team's biggest jokester a hard time.
""That's a record number of shots in the shortest period of time in the history of the University of Wisconsin. We had a good chuckle in the locker room. J.P's got a good sense of humor,"" Ryan said.
