The Wisconsin Badgers (1-0 overall) won their season opener Sunday night, an 83-55 victory over the Indiana-Purdue-University Fort Wayne Mastodons that showcased the strength of a versatile team with ability at both the perimeter and post positions.
The Badgers got off to a slow start, as they faced an 11-point deficit with less than eight minutes to go in the first half. But Wisconsin followed with a 22-5 run leading up to the break, largely due to strong defensive play from sophomore guard Trevon Hughes and senior guard Michael Flowers.
Just what Mike [Flowers] brings to the table as far as on the ball pressure, his deflections and it was contagious,"" UW head coach Bo Ryan said. ""Then Trevon [Hughes] was better defensively and from there it just spread to the other players. We went on that run there and when I saw some of the things Mike was doing, that was the difference and then everybody else picked it up.""
After starting every game last year, Flowers has come off the bench in every regular season and exhibition contest so far this season.
Although he has not found his shot as of late, his contributions have been otherwise solid. Flowers finished with three steals and four assists on the evening while playing the second-most minutes of any player on Wisconsin's roster.
Meanwhile, Hughes showed the quick progression of his offensive skills with a career-high 25 points. Hughes looked extremely confident in his shot, shooting from the outside but also driving to the basket. This gave him chances at the free throw line where he went five for six and opened up opportunities for his teammates, dishing out five assists.
Although IPFW coach Dane Fife was impressed with Wisconsin's guard play, it was in the post where the Badgers made life most difficult for the undersized Mastodons.
""Bottom line, how [Wisconsin] won this game was by being a Bo Ryan team,"" Fife said. ""They were very mentally tough. Ultimately, we just couldn't keep them off the glass '¦ we have to either grow some more or jump higher because rebounds just crushed us.""
Senior forward Brian Butch led the Badgers' post attack as he registered 24 points and 13 rebounds in just 26 minutes of action. Junior forward Marcus Landry and senior center Greg Stiemsma were also effective in the paint, putting up a combined 13 rebounds and 11 points to account for Wisconsin's 56 points in the paint compared to IPFW's 20. The Badgers also out-rebounded the Mastodons 43-31.
Rotation
Although Wisconsin gave playing time to many of its younger players when the game was out of reach, the Badgers stuck primarily to a seven man rotation in the early going. Coach Ryan has the luxury of rotating Flowers and Hughes, as well as junior Joe Krabbenhoft and sophomore Jason Bohannon between either of the guard or small forward positions.
Wisconsin learned a lot about its potential sources of offense after losing top scorers Alando Tucker and Kammron Taylor. The key will be finding a rotation that is most effective not just for the long term, but a game-by-game basis.
""First of all as a player and then as a team, you're trying to prove that you can get better and improve as the game goes on, not just as the season goes on and our guys did that,"" Ryan said. ""They realized there were something they had to correct and they did it.""
The Badgers hope to build on their first game successes on Thursday night, when they host Savannah State in the America's Youth Classic.
