The Badgers (8-4) came out strong against UW Milwaukee (3-10) and downed the Panthers 74-53 at the Kohl Center Saturday night. With the win, Wisconsin extended their win streak against UWM to 20 games.
It was an encouraging night offensively for the Badgers, who seemed to silence Milwaukee’s early momentum with some easy baskets from inside. Bo Ryan must have put an emphasis on getting the ball inside, as the Badgers were looking to get the ball in to Jared Berggren early and often.
As a team, the Badgers shot 47.5% from the field including 50% from three. Wisconsin took just 14 threes in the game, which was very good to see, as they’ve relied on the long ball a little too much this season. Bucky out-rebounded UWM 34-20 and had just 8 turnovers in the game.
Leading the way for the Badgers was Ryan Evans, who scored 19 points on 50% shooting and also added 7 rebounds and 4 assists. To highlight how great of performance Evans really had, just look at his free throw statistic; 3/4 from the line tonight! Jokes aside it really was an all around good performance for the Senior Forward tonight.
Mike Bruesewitz made a return tonight after missing more then three weeks with a concussion. Bruiser looked like him old self tonight, playing 26 minutes and adding 8 points with 5 rebounds. Even with his recent head trauma, Bruesewitz was in the paint fighting for boards and diving on the floor for loose balls.
Another contributor for Wisconsin was Point Guard Traevon Jackson, who had a career high 13 points while also dishing out 3 assists and grabbing 2 steals. A really positive note from tonight’s game was that Jackson really looked to attack the basket early and often. This led to some open drive opportunities and also opened outside shots for teammates.
Overall, a solid performance for the Badgers. Their much improved shot selection was very good to see, especially as they’re getting very close to colliding with the Big Ten season. Wisconsin’s next action will be in a week when they welcome Sanford to the Kohl Center on December 29th for their last non conference game of the regular season.
Add The Sports Daily to your Google News Feed!
