Wisconsin started slowly against Minnesota but played well enough in the second half to come out with a 65-56 victory Saturday at the Kohl Center. Long-range shooting kept the Gophers in the game, but a disparity at the free throw line ultimately cost them.
The Badgers got a productive game from sophomore guard Trevon Hughes who had struggled in his last three contests. Before Saturday, Hughes had missed 20 of his last 24 shots. Against Minnesota, however, the native of Queens, N.Y., scored 11 points, pulled down six rebounds, stole the ball twice and blocked a shot.
[Hughes] thinks he should have shot some more free throws, but he's only a sophomore. He's getting tougher in those situations,"" Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan said. ""He was more consistent because his decision making was very rational.""
The Badgers turned the ball over only 10 times, but the Gophers were better with just nine giveaways. However, Wisconsin won the battle in points off turnovers 12-6.
Five Badgers scored more than 11 points and junior forward Marcus Landry led the team with 12 points.
""There are some guys getting in foul trouble, other guys picking them up, everybody contributing in one way or another,"" Ryan said. ""It's fun when you have a group of guys like that.""
Overall, Minnesota connected on 10 of its 23 three-point attempts. That helped the visitors weather several early Wisconsin runs and even go up by five early in the second half.
The Badgers attempted 21 free throws in the second half alone and only sent the Gophers to the line seven times after the break. Wisconsin scored 13 more points than Minnesota from the charity stripe.
The Gophers threw out a plethora of defenses to counter Ryan's swing offense. Wisconsin saw man defense as well as a few zones and some full-court pressure. That defense has helped Minnesota lead the Big Ten in steals this season, but they were under their season average on Saturday.
When these teams first met, Wisconsin had a 16-point lead 10 minutes into the game. This time neither team led by more than six until fewer than six minutes remained.
""I thought we came ready to play today, unlike we did in Minneapolis. We did some good things, we passed the ball better, we took care of the ball better,"" Minnesota head coach Tubby Smith said. ""There was a stretch there where we couldn't score or get our shots to drop. That hurt us.""
Wisconsin continued their trend of playing closer games the second time they faced a Big Ten opponent. The Badgers' scoring differential was on average 7.2 points higher in first meetings. The only time the trend did not hold true was against Purdue, who defeated Wisconsin by four in the first meeting and by five in the second.
Taming Tollackson
Minnesota senior center Spencer Tollackson entered the game averaging 10.8 points and 4.3 rebounds per game. Wisconsin's defense held him to four points and one rebound in 12 minutes of action. Overall, the Gophers shot 33 percent from the field.
""We made sure to chest up and not foul them and make sure that they made some difficult shots,"" senior center Brian Butch said. ""Any time you do that '¦ it's tough to make baskets.""
