It was nearly same story, different opponent for the Wisconsin Badgers on Tuesday night. However, after one of the ugliest halves of basketball in the Bo Ryan era, UW found its stride and took control en route to a 64-49 victory over Texas A&M-Corpus Christi.
Wisconsin found a spark from the junior duo of Bronson Koenig and Vitto Brown, as Brown had a career night with his first double double (12 points, 16 rebounds) and Koenig added 15 points as well.
However, it was freshman forward Ethan Happ who really saved the day. He poured in 15 points of his own, but did it efficiently on 5 of 6 shooting and 5 of 8 from the free throw line. The big man also added seven rebounds to the winning effort.
Saying the game started out ugly would be an understatement, but just how ugly did it get for the Badgers to start things out?
The Badgers were just 2 of 16 from the field, however it also didn’t dig itself a hole thanks an equally bad start by the Islanders, who shot just 2 of 10 and turned the ball over five times in the first 8 minutes of action.
Wisconsin also was magically not hurt by missing more free throws (7) than they made (6), en route to a 27-19 lead at the half.
Despite the poor start, Wisconsin worked and worked from the field and ended the half shooting for the remainder of the half. UW finished shooting 33 percent compared to 27 percent for the Islanders, also making 7 of its last 11 field goals in the half.
Wisconsin searched hard for a lineup that would spark something offensively, giving minutes to the freshman trio of Charlie Thomas, Khalil Iverson and Alex Illiakanen. It didn’t work well, as the trio provided just two points in the first half on just three shots in a combined 26 minutes of play.
However, it was the starters that got things going, as Koening beat the Islanders zone defense with slash-and-dishes to Happ and finding himself open for a few three-pointers of his own.
There was also Brown’s commitment in the half, nearly pulling off the double double in the opening stanza of the game. He finished with eight of his 12 points and 10 of his 16 rebounds in the first half alone.
However, Brown opened the game 0 of 4 from the field and finished the half shooting just 3 of 7 overall. He finished the game 5 of 10 from the field overall.
Couple that with Nigel Hayes shooting just 1 of 7 from the field and going 1 of 4 from the free throw line, and Wisconsin’s advantage up front was nullified of its own doing in the first half.
If Wisconsin is going to go as Vitto Brown goes on the offensive end, it is going to continue to be in major trouble. That’s not to knock the effort and willingness of Brown, it is more an indictment of the fact that guys like Hayes, Koenig and Happ are struggling to get themselves the points (and shots) to make Brown’s nearly 10 points per night a complement and not the highlight of the game.
Happ could be forgiven, after all he was gutting it out on Tuesday night after missing practice yesterday with an illness. Still, he at least maximized the opportunities presented to him — going 2 of 2 form the the field and adding six points to the lead in the first half.
Following a first half dragged to the finish line by Brown and Koenig, the Badgers found a way to weather another slow start (albeit a much shorter one) behind Koenig and Happ in the second half.
Happ put in nine of his 15 points in the second half, but it was Koenig and fellow guard Zak Showalter who put the Badgers in the win column. That duo hit some key three pointers to stretch leads at critical points in the contest.
Wisconsin came out of the first two minute dry spell to open the second half to go on 17-6 run and go up by double digits.
#Badgers on a 17-6 run. Up 50-35. Doing a nice job defensively. The Islanders shooting just 14-44, 3-16 from beyond the arc.
— Jake Zimmermann (@Jake_Zimmermann) December 16, 2015
Wisconsin’s lead was quickly dealt a blow thanks to turnovers and disjointed offense — the story of the night.
However, following the 15-point advantage, the Islanders found a way to finally take advantage of all those turnovers and with 4:56 to play cut the lead to 53-43.
Quick 7-0 run by CC has it back to a 10-point game with 4:56 left. Timeout #Badgers.
— Zach Heilprin (@ZachHeilprin) December 16, 2015
It was a pair of turnovers on the offensive end by Nigel Hayes and a disastrous turnover turned three-pointer that made Ryan take the timeout.
Wisconsin came out of the timeout and got a small run of its own thanks to effort from Ethan Happ and a three-pointer from Zak Showalter, his second of the half, to push the lead back to 14 points at 57-43 with 3:30 to play.
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi’s inability to hit a shot consistently all night long proved to be the biggest stumbling block down the final 3:30 of the game. The Islanders went just 19 of 58 from the field and could never do enough to really get back in to the game because of it.
Wisconsin also used a huge advantage on the boards, 42 to 31, to help them seal this game away despite its own ugly night in other areas.
After two straight losses, the Badgers needed a victory in any form. This wasn’t the pretty variety, but with a battle against in-state foe Green Bay coming next Wednesday it was exactly what was needed.
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