Win Over Gardner-Webb Moves UW to 13-1
December 27, 2006 | Men's Basketball
Wisconsin led 52-19 at halftime and cruised to a 98-40 victory over Gardner-Webb (2-9) Wednesday at the Kohl Center. The fourth-ranked Badgers won their ninth game in a row and are 13-1 to begin a season for the first time since 1928-29. Only five other teams in UW history have won 13 of their first 14 games.
Wisconsin's 58-point margin of victory is the largest in school history. The previous mark was 55 points set against Denver on Dec. 14, 1988 (89-34).
The Badgers had four players reach double digits for the second consecutive game. Brian Butch led the way with 17 points. Kammron Taylor had 13 points and Alando Tucker and Jason Bohannon chimed in with 11 and 10 points, respectively.
Butch had six rebounds in the first three-plus minutes of the second half and tied his career high with 12. It was his third double-double this season and sixth of his career.
Wisconsin set season highs in points, field goals (35), 3-pointers (12), 3-point percentage (.600), free-throw percentage (.842) and assists (21). Gardner-Webb totaled its fewest points this season.
UW held a 9-8 lead at the 12-minute mark of the first half before sprinting past the Runnin' Bulldogs. Taylor and Bohannon hit back-to-back 3-pointers that ignited a 24-2 Badger run. Taylor had three 3's in the first half and Brian Butch hit two more as UW outscored Gardner-Webb 43-11 in the 12 minutes leading up to halftime.
Gardner-Webb, a member of the Atlantic Sun, has 11 new players this season, including eight freshmen, and has just four upperclassmen. Ricky McPhee hit four 3-pointers and finished with 17 points. He was the only Runnin' Bulldog to reach double figures.
Tucker, the Big Ten's leading scorer heading into the contest, hit just four of 12 shots, but had four rebounds and tied his career high with five assists. His lob pass to Marcus Landry in the second half gave UW a 71-30 lead with just over 12 minutes left to play.
Post-Game Notes:
' UW's 58-point margin of victory is the largest in school history.
' The Badgers are 13-1, the best start to a season for UW under head coach Bo Ryan.
' The last time Wisconsin started a season 13-1 was in 1928-29. Only five other teams in UW history have won 13 of their first 14 games.
' UW has trailed for just 10 minutes and 42 seconds during its current nine-game winning streak.
' Wisconsin's last nine-game winning streak was during the 2000-01 season.
' UW led 52-19 at the half, the 13th time Wisconsin has led at halftime this season (14 games).
' The last time Wisconsin led by 33 points at halftime was Dec. 11, 2002 vs. New Hampshire (49-16)
' Alando Tucker has scored in double figures in 36 of his last 37 games.
' Brian Butch recorded his sixth career double-double and third this season (17-12). His 12 rebounds ties his career high.
' UW hit a season-high 12 3-pointers.
' Tonight's attendance was 17,190 ' the 63rd consecutive sellout crowd at the Kohl Center.
' UW has won 14 consecutive games at home dating back to last season and is 83-5 at the Kohl Center since 2001.
' This was the first-ever meeting between Wisconsin and Gardner-Webb.
' This was the Badgers' final non-conference home game this season.
' Wisconsin point guard Kammron Taylor is the brother of former Gardner-Webb swing man Kerek Taylor (2000-2002).
Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan Post-Game Quotes
On the first-half run: 'We tried to do the same thing for 40 minutes. The group that was in there at the end was trying to do the same stuff as the group that started. Basketball is just that type of game; it's a game of runs. What you're hoping is that you're the ones making them, and that happened to be the case. Brian Butch drawing those two fouls on their very, very good off guard McPhee, you just had to watch him to appreciate how he moves away from the ball and you can see how he can shoot it. Look at his numbers and I can tell you that we did a great job on him.'
On the team's ball control: 'They took care of the ball. In a game like that sometimes teams get sloppy with the ball, but I thought our guys did a great job of just staying to the task, spreading the floor and moving it. That's why we shot such a high percentage. Sometimes in a differential like that you get into a game where people are just jacking shots and you shoot a low percentage. That's not good. That doesn't help anybody.'
On the team's 13-1 start: 'That's great for our guys. They 've worked hard. It's a reflection of that. But you know me and the team. They'll tell you that we have to go to Georgia in a few days. It'll be about the next game. It does give people something to talk about. It's something that this group will have to look at maybe some day and maybe reflect on it a little bit differently than they are now. All they know is they've got to lift tomorrow at 10 and everybody is making their plans when they're going to eat breakfast and lunch like all other 18-to-22-year olds. But I'm proud to be associated with a group that's done that, extremely proud.'
Gardner-Webb Head Coach Rick Scruggs Post-Game Quotes
Opening Statement: 'There's not a lot to say except that it was a pretty dominating exhibition by Wisconsin. We've seen two top five teams now and I tell you, I'd love to see North Carolina and Wisconsin play. It'd probably be a better game than a Gardner-Webb, Wisconsin game, obviously. Wisconsin 's got a chance to be special. I mean you see that in them and North Carolina. We 've played North Carolina State, Wake Forest, Texas Tech, go down the list of people we've played this year and North Carolina and Wisconsin obviously stand out as being something that's got a chance to be really special, a special team. Tucker's just really fun to watch. I tell you, the whole team is fun to watch, but Tucker is really a special player too. I'm not really sure what to say except that it was a dominant performance and a team that was that much better than us. They shot the ball really well tonight. I don't know if that's the norm or whatever but if they keep shooting the ball like that, they're going to have a great year I would think.'
On Wisconsin's offensive run after Gardner-Webb pulled within one point at 9-8: 'You look up and it's 9-8 and things are going pretty good and I think that we may have woke them up a little bit. At first they were a little bit sloppy I thought with the ball ' they don't turn the ball over very much, they had a few turnovers and we hit a couple shots. When we don't hit shots, we're young enough where we lose a lot of confidence. If we miss a few shots and they hit a few shots, it sort of got our offense down and I think they re-gained their confidence and things got flowing for them. I think they got in a better flow after the first 10, 11 minutes of the game. I think you saw the whole flow change. We should have taken that timeout at 9-8 and said it didn't get any better than that. That would have been a good time to take a timeout. I think the flow of the game changes because they got in more of a rhythm. I think their rhythm came back to them a little bit.'
