Badgers' Defense Stymies UW-Milwaukee, 66-37
December 15, 2004 | Men's Basketball
Sharif Chambliss scored a season-high 21 points and the Wisconsin defense stifled UW-Milwaukee all evening long as the Badgers pulled away in the second half for a 66-37 win at the Kohl Center Wednesday evening.
The victory improves UW's Division I-best home winning streak to 33 games, tying a school record in the process. Wisconsin also won 33 straight games at home from March 8, 1911 to Jan. 23, 1915.
The Badgers improve to 6-2 overall with the win, while UW-Milwaukee falls to 6-2.
Both teams got off to a slow start, as UW-Milwaukee missed each of its first six shots from the field and the Badgers connected on just one of its first nine. Wisconsin held a slim 4-0 lead when the Panthers finally got on the board with 14:35 remaining in the half on a dunk by Derrick Ford.
Five points apiece by Brian Butch and Chambliss sparked a 10-2 run and gave UW a 14-4 lead with nine minutes left before halftime. UWM closed to within 18-12, but Kammron Taylor hit a jumper and a three-pointer to push the lead to 11 at 23-12 with 3:52 to go.
Each team managed just two points the rest of the half, as the Badgers took a 25-14 lead into the locker room. Chambliss was the lone offensive bright spot for either team, nearly outscoring the Panthers himself, as he notched 13 points in the opening half. UWM connected on only six of 24 shots (24 percent) in the opening 20 minutes of play, while Wisconsin hit on eight of 27 (29.6 percent).
The Panthers missed their first seven shots of the second half as the Badgers scored the first seven points after halftime to surge ahead 32-14. UWM answered back with nine straight points to close within 32-23 with 14:17 remaining, however, seven in a row by Wisconsin pushed the lead back up to 16.
The visitors trailed by 12 at 49-37 with 5:31 left in the second half, but the Badgers shut down the Panthers the rest of the way, closing the game on a 17-0 run.
Wisconsin held UW-Milwaukee to 25.5 percent field goal shooting for the game (14 of 55), while finishing at 37.9 percent itself (22 of 58). The Badgers held a 23-4 advantage in points off turnovers, taking advantage of 17 miscues.
Mike Wilkinson finished with a double-double, scoring 10 points and adding 12 rebounds. Alando Tucker came within one rebound of a double-double of his own, tallying 11 points and nine boards.
Wisconsin returns to action at 7 p.m. next Thursday when it plays host to UNC-Greensboro.
Game Notes
UW-Milwaukee was limited to 14 points in the first half, the lowest total by a Badger opponent for a half this season. The fewest points allowed by Wisconsin in a half last season was 15 in the first half against Indiana on Jan. 6, 2004 ' The 37 points scored by the Panthers marks a tie as the third-fewest ever scored by a team at the Kohl Center. UW-Green Bay scored 34 points in an 55-34 loss to Wisconsin on Dec. 8, 1999. It is the lowest total scored against the Badgers since New Hampshire scored 36 in an 85-36 loss on Dec. 11, 2002 ' The Badgers improve to 21-1 all-time against UWM with the win ' Mike Wilkinson tied a career high with 12 rebounds in the game. He also had 12 against Marquette on Dec. 22, 2001 and Purdue on Feb. 29, 2004 ' Wilkinson's double-double is the 10th of his career ' Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan was the head coach at UW-Milwaukee for two seasons from 1999-2001.
Postgame Quotes
UW-Milwaukee head coach Bruce Pearl
Opening Statement:
'We're embarrassed. We were totally overmatched. We 're not built to beat Wisconsin. We tried getting the ball inside, we got the ball where we wanted it, but we couldn't finish it. They were just too big and we couldn't get ourselves on the foul line at all. I thought our kids played really good defense, they played hard and I think Wisconsin's field goal percentage was 38 percent. I think that's a reflection of our effort, but clearly, the things that we try to do offensively don't match up very well with Wisconsin's size. They were just so much bigger than we were. I think tonight you could sort of see the difference in the levels of Division I play, as related to the size.'
On Sharif Chambliss:
'He got off to a great start and he did some things off the dribble and I'm sure Wisconsin is tremendously motivated by their loss to Marquette and all the things that needed to be fixed, they fixed. We don't have Travis Diener (of Marquette). Marquette had a hard time scoring on Wisconsin, too, except for Travis Diener who can score on anybody and he's done that to just about everybody.'
On not being competitive despite having a bigger team:
'I'm very disappointed. Yeah, it did surprise us. And we are and we aren't (taller than last year's team). We're really no bigger than we were last year. Derrick Ford has got good size but he was no match for Wisconsin on the inside, and he did some good things.'
On the low-scoring start to the game:
'We were just playing great defense and we were playing hard and we were keeping them off the boards. But, how many empty trips can you make without feeling like `gosh, this is going to be difficult.' Wisconsin struggled with the ball-screen defense against Marquette, and it was not a problem at all tonight and I think it has a lot to do with the fact that our guards needed to make plays. Our guards needed to make shots. Our guards didn't get many good looks.'
Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan
On playing with the lead:
'Well, you just space the floor, keep your cuts working and try to get to the free throw line, get at least into the two-shot bonus when you 're playing with the lead. But we weren't looking to just hold it because you can't do that. That's when you run into trouble. Against Green Bay we were just waiting for the clock to run out. So we went over a few things after that game. We didn't get a chance to play with the lead in the next one and then in this one we did and I thought they handled it a lot better, getting to the free throw line and getting a couple easy baskets, making it tough for them to get into rhythm at the other end and to use their pressure. If they get the score, they get their press on and then who knows.'
On UW's defensive effort:
'I just give our guys credit for committing to the work. Sometimes the work nets results that look a little bit better. We played the same the last game. You can't scrap what you're doing. We did the same thing basically here tonight. I thought our guys did a pretty good job. You go to the next game. We knew we were playing a quality opponent. I thought we were defensively beating them to the spot and getting some things done.'
