Home sweet home.
After splitting a pair of games in the 2K Classic over the weekend, the Wisconsin Badgers basketball team returned home and returned to dominating opponents. Wisconsin took care of SWAC opponent Prairie View A&M 85-67 at the Kohl Center.
UW improved to 3-0 all-time against the Panthers and 11-0 against opponents from the SWAC as well.
However, it wasn’t all as easy as the final score suggests. UW struggled to stop Prairie View A&M around the perimeter and it led to the Panthers making a game of it for about 25 minutes. Then the mistakes and miscues began to catchup with them.
Still, Badgers head coach Bo Ryan was not happy with what took place on the court defensively.
After the Panthers started the game 4 of 5 from the field and 3-of-3 from three-point range, it was clear things weren’t right on the defensive end. A lot of that was on the play of Wisconsin’s guards on the perimeter.
“I was very disappointed in myself,” said guard Zak Showalter. “I thought that was one of my worst defensive performances I’ve had, honestly.”
But, the flip side of the coin was Prairie View A&M’s ability to self-destruct.
The visiting Panthers began to rack up the fouls and turn the ball over. It led to Wisconsin getting in to the bonus with over 10 minutes to play in the first half and UW turning 14 turnovers in to 20 points in the fist half alone.
Despite those awful numbers, Wisconsin committed six turnovers of its own and the Panthers just simply couldn’t miss from deep in the first half. They shot 7 of 9 from deep and gained a 21-9 advantage in points from deep because of it.
Wisconsin got a team-high 16 points points from guard Bronson Koenig, who went 3 of 5 from deep and helped the Badgers pull away deep in the second half. But, the biggest story continues to be the missing shooting game of junior Nigel Hayes.
He went 3 of 11 from the field on the night and got four of his 10 points from the free throw line. But, just like previous rough nights from the field, Hayes did his work in other ways. This time it was a seven-assist day to go along with his 10 points.
Overall, six Badgers scored in double figures as they eased in to the win. That included Zak Showalter (14), Ethan Happ (12), Charlie Thomas (12), Vitto Brown (11) and Hayes’ 10 points.
However, no player had a bigger impact on the game than redshirt freshman Ethan Happ. He nearly made it a three-peat of double doubles in this game, finishing with 12 points and eight rebounds. More importantly was the steadying force when the Badgers needed it most.
Wisconsin has now played six games in 13 days, a fact not lost on anyone in the Badgers camp.
“Yeah it’s definitely a grind going from game to game and practice to practice like this, so you really have to take care of your body,” said Happ following the win. “But at the same time, every player loves to play. Having all these games in a row, it’s fun, but it’s definitely a challenge at the same time.”
The Badgers will get a big break considering all the games and travel, playing their next game against Oklahoma on Nov. 29 in Norman.
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