Wisconsin Handles Lawrence, 81-46
November 14, 2005 | Men's Basketball
Junior Alando Tucker shot 12-of-17 from the floor en route to scoring a game-high 25 points and leading the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team to an 81-46 exhibition victory over Lawrence Monday night at the Kohl Center.
Tucker also grabbed six rebounds and recorded 13 of those points in the first half for the Badgers (2-0 preseason), who finished their exhibition season tonight. Sophomore Brian Butch was 5-of-6 for 10 points, while junior Kammron Taylor chipped in 11 points and six assists.
Kyle MacGillis, Ben Rosenblatt and Ryan Kroeger each put up 11 points to pace the Division III Vikings (0-1), who kept a somewhat close game early on, trailing by only 32-24 in the beginning of the second. However, the Badgers used an 11-2 run, keyed by Tucker's six points, to pull away.
'I thought we did better from Saturday to tonight,' head coach Bo Ryan, referring to his team's 79-52 win against UW-River Falls, said. 'I think the guys are ready. They're ready to play somebody when it counts.'
Lawrence shot just 23.3 percent in the opening period 'including 1-of-11 from 3-point range'and consequently mustered just 18 points. MacGillis made a 3-point basket to open the final frame and spark a 6-2 run, which led to the Vikings' smallest deficit the remainder of the way.
It was the smallest because UW quickly responded with some fast-paced scoring and increased its lead to 21 in slightly less than five minutes. Eventually, that margin grew as large as 38.
For the game, Wisconsin shot 68.6 percent (35-of-51) to Lawrence 's 28.8 percent (17-of-59). UW also dominated inside, holding a 40-23 edge in rebounds and 54-20 advantage in points in the paint.
The Badgers begin their regular season at 7:30 p.m. CT Friday against Norfolk State in the Paradise Jam Tournament in the U.S. Virgin Islands.
Game Notes
Wisconsin improved to 10-0 in exhibition games under head coach Bo Ryan and 42-4 all-time ' UW also improved to 1-0 against Lawrence and 1-0 against teams from the Midwest Conference ' all 15 Badgers saw action tonight ' all but two UW players scored.
Post-game Quotations
Lawrence University Head Coach John Tharp
On what Lawrence did well: 'We did some really good things in the first half. We ran good motion, but we just didn't make many shots. I was very pleased with our rebounding and our intensity. I thought our guards did a terrific job helping out and rebounding. (Wisconsin) made some plays today that we just couldn't match. This film will tell a lot about us. I'm not worried about the score right now; I'm worried about if we competed, and I think we did. I think we can improve on our team defense. We got gouged a little on the dribble because I think we got stretched out, but I think the tape will tell more what we need to do. '
On Alando Tucker: 'The great thing about him is they get the ball to him in great positions where he can use his athletic ability. He uses his body very well, especially on that flex-screen. I think he's got a terrific first step and once he gets into the paint he can score over you, and he 's got some moves that he can run on you as well.'
Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan
On where the team stands heading into the regular season: 'I think they're cognizant of what it's going to take to run a good half-court offense like River Falls and Lawrence 'how to handle staggers, the fades, things like that. I thought our guys, going through the screens, had to work their feet. The only thing we didn't get with these exhibition games is great size. I'm not sure about the teams that we're playing (Friday). We know a little big about Norfolk State. We don't know the third opponent, and our second opponent is Eastern Kentucky. But, Norfolk State's first, and that's who we'll get ready for. But, let's play. There are some things we obviously need to work on. There are some things I thought we did better from Saturday to tonight. I think the guys are ready. They're ready to play somebody when it counts. But, this counts'what we did tonight. It exposes things, and now, let's play.'
On Alando Tucker: 'He did a great job. He works hard. He did some things defensively where he got some deflections or steals. He energized our guys defensively.'
On shooting inside: 'Don't read too much into it, because we played teams that weren't quite as big, but were feisty inside. I'd like to take advantage of post play every night. Shooting three feet away from basket is better than shooting 20 feet away, but we'll take what the defense gives us every night.'
On Lawrence's play: 'All they had to do is hit some threes early and they'd be beating us. They were getting decent shots. I thought we did a pretty good job on their shooters, understanding at times there were mismatches size-wise. There were times we were chasing guys two to three inches shorter. We didn't finish on some things inside that we did in the second half. There was no reason to take a lot of threes if we could get it inside, and that's where we got it in the second half.'
