UW vs. Michigan: Beyond the Box
December 31, 2008 | Men's Basketball
STAR OF THE GAME: Trevon Hughes gets the nod today after one of his most complete games of the season. Not only did the point guard tie for a team-high with 16 points, but he also dished out three assists with zero turnovers, grabbed three rebounds and recorded three steals in 34 minutes of action.
'"I thought Trevon managed the possessions about as well as any player I ''ve ever coached over that span,"' head coach Bo Ryan said after the game.
Honorable mention goes to Joe Krabbenhoft and Tim Jarmusz for their defense on Manny Harris. Harris entered the game as the Big Ten 's leading scorer, averaging nearly 20 points per game. Krabbenhoft and Jarmusz held him to just nine points on 3-of-13 shooting and forced him into three turnovers.
PLAY OF THE GAME: Midway through the second half Marcus Landry flushed home a power dunk for today's play of the game. Tim Jarmusz fed a nice pass into Landry in the lane where the senior turned and threw down a two-handed dunk.
'When we swung the ball, they rotated everyone over to that side and I was left wide open,' Landry said. 'Jon [Leuer] did a nice job of sealing off the backside and Tim made a nice pass.'
TURNING POINT OF THE GAME: Wisconsin jumped out to a big lead early in this one, but Michigan had whittled it down to a seven-point game at 46-39 with 17:40 left. That''s when Trevon Hughes caught fire. The junior scored 10-straight points for the Badgers and single-handedly pushed the UW lead from seven to 15 over a 3:30 span. Hughes scored a couple two-point field goals, then drained back-to-back 3-pointers to push Wisconsin out to a 56-41 lead. Michigan would never get closer than nine from there on.
'I got going off our defense,' Hughes explained. 'I got a couple of easy baskets and that gave me and the whole team confidence.'
STAT OF THE GAME: Wisconsin''s scorching hot field goal shooting is today''s stat of the game. The Badgers made nine of their first 10 shots and finished with a 58.7 shooting (27-of-46) percentage. In the first half alone, UW knocked down 65.2 percent (15-of-23) of its field goals, including 50 percent (4-of-8) from 3-point range.
Honorable mention goes to Manny Harris'' line of 3-for-13 shooting (0-for-2 from 3-point range) with three turnovers and nine points (11 below his average). He also shot just four free throws when he was averaging over seven attempts per game coming in.
