MILWAUKEE - After getting out-rebounded by an undersized Marquette team Saturday, the Badgers were determined to not let it happen again against another Milwaukee rival.
While holding a rebounding edge of 37-16, the UW men's basketball team used stifling defense to top UW-Milwaukee 61-39 Wednesday night at U.S. Cellular Arena in front of a near-record crowd of 10,017.
Wisconsin (7-2) used every edge to their advantage and their balanced scoring attack proved to be too much for the Panthers (0-2 Horizon League, 3-7 overall). The Badgers had three players score in double-digits, with junior forward Marcus Landry leading the way with a game-high 16 points.
A big key to the game was the play of sophomore Trevon Hughes. The point guard, who shot only 4-for-15 Saturday, played under control while penetrating to the basket with a pass-first mentality, still managing to score 12 points on 5-of-9 shooting.
I had to attack the basket. That's my job, to get my teammates involved,"" Hughes said.
The rebounding margin was not surprising, given that UWM does not have a single player over 6'7'.
UW completely stopped UWM's top two scorers, senior forwards Torre Johnson and Paige Paulsen. Johnson scored the team's first six points, but it did not take long for the Badgers to figure out a way to stop him. The transfer from Oklahoma State was held to only four points the rest of the way, finishing with a team-high 10 points.
""[Landry] did a great job on [Johnson],"" Butch said. ""[Junior guard Joe Krabbenhoft] did a great job on Paulsen. Any time you get their two leading scorers to score a total of 12 points when they are together averaging 30, that goes to your advantage.""
Landry provided a big boost in his second homecoming to Milwaukee. Landry was on Johnson most of the night in a rematch of a high school game from his sophomore year. On the offensive end, he shot 6-for-11, scoring both in the post and from the perimeter. He even threw in a fancy reverse layup in the second half.
""On any given night anyone can score 16 points on this team because that's how versatile this team is. I guess tonight was just my night,"" Landry said.
Despite the improvement from Saturday's loss to Marquette, Wisconsin still struggled with turnovers. The Badgers committed 18 of them for the second straight game, nine in each half.
""I'll tell you how to not have 18 turnovers,"" head coach Bo Ryan said. ""You dribble across half court, make one pass and shoot. So now we got to find the in-between there and get it down to 10 or 12 [turnovers].""
Still, the height advantage and defensive pressure proved to be too much for the turnovers to hurt Wisconsin.
UW will play UW-Green Bay at the Kohl Center Saturday.
