There was no question the Badgers were the bigger team Saturday, but it did not take long to realize that Marquette was the scrappier team as the Golden Eagles ended the UW men's basketball team's 28-game home winning streak with an 81-76 victory.
Of all the predictions and analysis thrown out before Saturday's game, no one was saying Marquette had the edge over Wisconsin when it came to rebounding. UW came into the game leading the Big Ten with a plus-13.1 rebounding margin while averaging 15 offensive rebounds a game. But when it was all said and done Saturday, the Badgers were out-rebounded by a smaller Marquette team 41-34 and the Golden Eagles pulled down 21 offensive rebounds.
For us to out-rebound them today, I thought was the key to the game because we didn't feel like we could compete at the highest level with Wisconsin if we weren't doing a great job at rebounding,"" MU head coach Tom Crean said after the game.
Marquette surprisingly dominated in the paint with a 44-30 edge. The driving ability of junior guards Dominic James and Jerel McNeal led to a good portion of those points in the paint, but offensive rebounds helped Marquette get some easy put-backs. The Golden Eagles topped UW in second chance points by a margin of 26 to 18.
""We weren't as fundamentally sound on our block outs and it was pretty evident,"" UW head coach Bo Ryan said.
Senior forward Brian Butch, who came into the game averaging 9.1 rebounds a game, pulled down only five rebounds on the night, all of which were offensive rebounds.
""As a seven-footer you can't have zero defensive rebounds,"" Butch said. ""That's just unacceptable. It's one of things that as a senior you have to step up, and I didn't quite do that tonight.""
Butch did help on the offensive end, however. Playing seemingly with more confidence, the senior tallied a team-high 17 points. Still, he only scored four points in the second half and was surprisingly not in the game over the last couple of minutes. Instead, Ryan opted for freshman Jon Leuer.
""We were playing from behind. We had our quicker more active guys off the screens. That's how you play down the stretch when you play from behind. If we had a lead that wouldn't have been the case,"" Ryan said.
Still, with sophomore guard Trevon Hughes struggling for a good portion of the night, it was surprising to see Butch on the bench. Hughes shot 4-for-15 on the night, finishing with 16 points. He struggled from the free throw line too, hitting only seven of his 13 attempts. Free throws hurt Wisconsin late; missing 10 shots from the line in the second half.
""In crunch time we got to knock those down,"" Hughes said. ""I guess we had some butterflies in our stomach or something because we usually make those shots.""
Flowers gets first start
It was only a matter of time before senior guard Michael Flowers got back in the starting lineup and Ryan decided that Saturday was the right time to make the move.
""Mike had earned his way back and I would have loved to have him more on the floor tonight. It wasn't anything other than it was his time. I wouldn't read too much into it.""
Flowers rewarded his coach with a good game. The senior shot 6-of-7 and tallied 14 points.
Signature win alluded
Other than a tough road trip to Texas in late December, Wisconsin's remaining non-conference schedule does not provide many opportunities to boost its NCAA Tournament résumé. Both Marquette and Wisconsin needed a big non-conference win.
""This is such a signature win,"" Crean said. ""We said at the beginning of the week that whoever got it was going to have something that everybody would be looking at through the entire year when the seedings and things like that come out.""
The significance of the game only added to the rivalry. The game was 114th meeting between the two schools, but Crean thinks the contest is just beginning to heat up.
""I hope it continues to be this way long after myself and long after Bo. But long after us, long after the Dominic James' and the Marcus Landry,"" Crean said. ""Just like the Tuckers and the Wades and all those guys. This is a rivalry that is really, really great, and the fact that the nation has picked up on it over the last few years is even better.
