Badgers Entertain Eastern Illinois in Home Opener
November 25, 2003 | Men's Basketball
Wisconsin (1-0) will open the 2003-04 home season tonight against Eastern Illinois (0-1) at 7 p.m. at the Kohl Center (17,142). The game will not be televised. It can be heard live on the Wisconsin Radio Network (WIBA - 1310AM/ 101.5FM locally in Madison) and on www.uwbadgers.com with Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas calling the game.
The Badgers are ranked 15th in both the Associated Press and the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls. Eastern Illinois is not ranked.
UW is coming off a hard-fought 64-53 win over Penn in Philadelphia on Friday night. The Badgers used a 10-0 run late in the second half to turn a 50-48 lead into a 60-48 advantage with 35 seconds left. Devin Harris paced Wisconsin with 16 points and added eight rebounds and four assists. Zach Morley, in his first game as a Badger, came off the bench for 12 points and nine rebounds. UW outrebounded Penn 43-31 and shot 24 more free throws than the Quakers.
UW leads the all-time series with Eastern Illinois 4-1. The teams ' last meeting was on Dec. 28, 1995, a 105-70 Wisconsin win in Madison. That was the last time the Badgers scored more than 100 points in a regular-season game. The Badgers are 4-0 against EIU in Madison. UW is 6-1 all-time against teams currently in the Ohio Valley Conference.
Wisconsin is 85-15 all-time in home openers, including a perfect 5-0 at the Kohl Center. UW was 16-1 at home last season, winning its last 12 in a row. The Badgers shot .484 from the field at the Kohl Center and averaged 76.2 points per game. Wisconsin held its opponents to just .419 shooting and 56.8 points per game. Devin Harris shot .510 from the field and .803 from the free throw line at home last year, averaging 14.2 points.
In the last five years, Wisconsin is 62-9 (.873) in home games. In two seasons under Bo Ryan, the Badgers have been even better, going 28-2 overall and 16-0 in Big Ten home games.
