Badgers Beat Panthers 89-71
December 13, 2003 | Men's Basketball
The Wisconsin men's basketball team defeated their second in-state rival this week with an 89-71 victory over UW-Milwaukee. The win, in front of the sellout crowd of 17,142, marks the 18th consecutive home victory for the Badgers. Junior Mike Wilkinson led all scorers with 18 points hitting five of seven field goal attempts.
The well-balanced Wisconsin attack featured five players scoring in double-digits. The Badgers' bench outscored the Panthers' bench 40-14. Sophomore Alando Tucker scored 12 points and six rebounds in thirteen minutes of play. Today's game marked the second game action this season for Tucker, who missed the first five games of the season due to injury. Junior Zach Morley also added 13 points and six rebounds off the bench.
UW-Milwaukee jumped out to an early 7-4 lead in the opening minutes and kept the score close for the majority of the first half. With a 24-23 advantage at the 6:56 mark in the first, the Badgers went on a 10-0 run, holding the Panthers scoreless for nearly three minutes. A Wilkinson three-pointer with 2:39 remaining in the half put Wisconsin up 39-26 before heading into the locker room with a 43-32 advantage.
The Badgers came out firing in the second half, going on a 7-0 run in the opening minutes to make the score 53-34. A Tucker free throw at the 15:01 mark gave the Badgers a game-high 20-point lead, 58-38. Eight different Badgers scored in the game and all 12 players dressed saw action.
The Badgers shot 51 percent from the field and 35 percent beyond the three-point arc in scoring their highest point total of the season. Junior Devin Harris directed the offensive attack dishing out nine assists to go with his 13 points. Sophomore Boo Wade scored a career-high 11 points, including nine in the first half. Senior guard Freddie Owens racked up nine boards and seven points on the day.
The Badgers improve to 20-1 in all-time series against UW-Milwaukee, including Wisconsin's 11 straight wins. Dylan Page led the Panthers with 16 points.
Wisconsin has now defeated in-state rivals UW-Green Bay and UW-Milwaukee. The Badgers next play their final game against an in-state opponent Saturday, Dec. 20 when they host Marquette at the Kohl Center. Tip-off is scheduled for 1 p.m. The game will be televised nationally by ESPN.
Wisconsin Men's Basketball Post-Game Quotes
Wisconsin vs. UW-Milwaukee' Dec. 13, 2003
Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan
On the difference in UW-M's pressure:
I think it's the philosophy and it's a great philosophy. You keep using enough players and you stay fairly fresh and if maybe the other team hits a rocky point and you take advantage of it. So they've done that to a lot of teams, Coach Davis's teams, they were known for doing that at times. You just have to weather the storm, you just can't have guys fraying, falling apart and pointing the finger and doing all that'the coach does that. So you just get their heads together and say, 'Ok, they made the one run there again, which is predictable because of the number of possessions that you're pushing.' And then when we weathered that one and they got it back and kept it as a team, that was good for us, I thought we handled that pretty well.
On the team's balance, five players in double figures (scoring):
That's something that, hopefully, won't be the last time. You never know how many times you can get that, but that depends on number of possessions in games too. So this was a high possession game that helped us get more looks and more people in the game with some numbers. So anytime we can distribute that way, it keeps teams from focusing in on one guy.
UW-Milwaukee Head Coach Bruce Pearl
Opening Statement: 'This is our third game against Wisconsin and this might be the best team I've had, and it might be the best team Wisconsin's had. We felt like we could come in here today and win, we really did. They were better. They did a terrific job against our pressure and were able to turn the tempo up and finish. Offensively, they really executed well and got whatever they wanted. Our biggest problem with this basketball team is on the defensive end. We said that going in and certainly that continues to be the case.'
On UW-Milwaukee's transition defense:
'Wisconsin did a good job attacking the pressure and we had a lot of troops up front commit to it and didn't make enough plays up front to justify having them up front. We've got to get better at making plays up front because when Wisconsin breaks the press we've got a long way to run to get back, and we didn't get back with a real urgency to get matched up.'
