Badgers Pull Away From UNC Greensboro 85-53
December 23, 2004 | Men's Basketball
The Wisconsin men's basketball team pulled away in the second half to post an 85-53 victory over UNC Greensboro at the Kohl Center Thursday night.
The Badgers improved their nation's-best home winning streak to 34 games with the win, while raising their season record to 7-2. The Spartans fall to 7-3 with the loss.
Alando Tucker led the way for UW with 21 points - including 17 in the second half - and 15 rebounds, while Mike Wilkinson chipped in with 20 points. Wisconsin held a dominant 50-23 rebounding advantage, including 22 offensive boards.
The frigid temperatures outside matched the shooting inside the Kohl Center early on. The Badgers made just two of their first 13 field goal attempts and hit only one of their first 12 attempts from the free throw line.
The slow start helped the Spartans get out to an 8-4 lead five and a half minutes into the contest. Wisconsin didn't gain its first lead until 12:38 remained in the first half as a basket in the lane by Brian Butch put UW ahead 11-10.
UNCG went up 22-21 on a pair of free throws by Rick Hickman with 3:40 to go before halftime. However, the Badgers shut down the Spartans the remainder of the opening half, scoring the final eight points to take a 29-22 lead into the intermission.
Wisconsin held just the seven-point lead at the half despite dominating edges in rebounds and free throw attempts. UW had 29 total boards in the first half, including more offensive rebounds (16) than UNCG had total (13). The Badgers also attempted 19 free throws ' compared to four for the Spartans ' but made just six.
As much as Wisconsin struggled with its shooting in the first half, it completely turned things around in the second half. After shooting just 11-of-32 (34.4 percent) in the opening 20 minutes of play, the Badgers connected on 21-of-33 from the field (63.6 percent) after the break.
UW opened the second half on a 14-2 run over the first four minutes to increase its lead to 43-26. Wilkinson scored seven points during the decisive run. The Badgers' advantage was 45-33 when they went on another 14-2 spurt to surge ahead 59-35 and put the game out of reach.
Though he failed to score in the contest, Sharif Chambliss contributed a career-high nine assists for Wisconsin. Ricky Hickman led the Spartans with 14 points.
The Badgers return to action at 7 p.m. next Monday when they play host to Western Carolina.
Game Notes
The 34th straight win at home for Wisconsin marks a new school record. UW had previously won 33 straight at home from March 8, 1911 to Jan. 23, 1915 ... This was the first meeting between the two schools ' UNCG entered the game leading the country with an average of just 13.0 fouls per game, but committed 21 tonight ' The double-double by Alando Tucker was the third of his career and his first this season ' Wisconsin improves to 4-1 all-time vs. teams from the Southern Conference with the win, while the Spartans fall to 0-5 all-time vs. Big Ten opponents with the loss ' Sharif Chambliss' nine assists tonight are a career high ' Tucker's 21 points and Wilkinson's 20 marked the first time a UW duo had 20 points in the same game since Wilkinson and Devin Harris did so against Michigan State on March 13, 2004 in the Big Ten tournament ... The Badgers' 50 rebounds mark the first time UW had 50 or more boards in a game since it had 52 against Rhode Island on Dec. 3, 1999.
UNC Greensboro coach Fran McCaffery
Opening Statement: 'I felt coming into the game after watching Wisconsin on film that they were one of the better teams we'd face this season. I think they run an offense that is not easy to guard and they recognize any breakdown almost immediately. So we tried to pretty much script the first half. Every possession on offense and play a little more zone because we didn't really want to guard man to man. Obviously that worked extremely well. They were struggling with their perimeter shooting and then in the last three minutes we were trying to get Ronnie Burrell and Kyle Hines to half time without being in foul trouble and they jumped us a little bit and that really hurt our team. I think they settled down and obviously Bo went in at half time and straightened some things out and they got better looks in the second half and were making shots and everything fell apart for us from there. I thought for at least 20 minutes we played well and I continue to be impressed with this Wisconsin team. '
On the rebounding differential: 'We have been a better rebounding team too, were obviously giving up some size, but I thought they really did a good job of getting the missed free-throws and they did a good job of recognizing the fact that they weren't shooting the ball well and that is what makes them a good team. Ok we're missing shots we'll get it off the glass and get another chance at it, maybe get a fouled and get their guys in trouble It just has a way of wearing us down. It doesn't usually happen to us with our two guys, Hines and Burrel, but we are giving up a few pounds and a few inches. But it was a good experience for Kyle Hines and it's what they good teams do they see what's going on and they adjust.
On Wilkinson and Tucker: 'I've watched Wilkinson over the years and I've really been impressed. He's so big and versatile I think that's what makes this team so hard to guard, the big guys can shot from outside and the guards can come down and post up and its different from what we normally see in the Southern Conference. We talked about it a lot, but its another thing to go out there and guard Wilkinson in the open floor when he's making moves. Tuckers just a handful athletically, when he's making jumpers he's virtually unstoppable. Wilkinson was really the difference, when they were struggling with the zone he made some good flashes to the basket and recognizing the situation and making something happen.
Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan
On second half adjustments: 'Well we had great looks in the first half. If you look at the shot chart, you see the shots in the paint. We didn 't finish and when we got fouled we didn't get paid, as the saying goes. We refer to it as getting dividends on your investment. Hard work gets you to the free throw line but you gotta get paid. If we just shoot our normal percentage, it's a 14 or 15 point game at halftime and then it's not so much of a grind. We got the ball in the middle of their zone. It looked like a clinic out there for a while in the second half.'
On hustle play and defense: 'Whenever you're getting offensive rebounds like that, you know your guys are not standing around. Defensively, we took away their threes and made it tough to get to the rim. They don 't foul very much, if you look at their past games. We got to the line enough to get something done, but we just didn't shoot a decent enough percentage that every one can see in the statistics.'
