As the offense sputtered to start, defense carried the Wisconsin men's basketball team to victory over Rutgers 55-43 at the Kohl Center Saturday night, lifting the No. 15 Badgers to 3-0 overall.
Team offensive leaders struggled on both sides of the ball and Wisconsin Head Coach Bo Ryan credited guards sophomore Boo Wade and senior Freddie Owens for their play against Rutgers standout guard Ricky Shields, who was held to an dismal three points and two rebounds, fouling out late in the second half. The Scarlet Knight junior performed well under his 18-and-a-half point, six rebound average, which both teams' head coaches attributed to the Wisconsin defense. Going one for seven and putting up only four points, two of which came at the charity stripe, Owens, UW's leading scorer, also fell short of the career-high 24-point performance he put up against Eastern Illinois.
\They're going to compete in the Big Ten with their defense,"" said Rutgers Head Coach Gary Waters, qualifying the praise with the fact that his team's play was hindered by its 23 turnovers. The Badgers capitalized on the Knights' errors with 26 points off turnovers.
In addition to turning the ball over, Rutgers ran into foul trouble, fouling out Shields and senior forward Sean Axani and putting Wisconsin at the line, which the Badgers turned into 18 points. On the other hand, despite five for seven field-goal shooting in the second half, Scarlet Knight senior forward Herve Lamizana was just 2-for-8 at the free throw line, contributing to a 33-percent team accuracy mark.
UW had ball control problems of its own as junior forward Mike Wilkinson turned the ball over three times inside four minutes, causing a 5-1 Rutgers lead early in the game. Wisconsin found its offensive spark in the first half in junior forward Zach Morley, who tied the game up twice, starting a 8-0 Badger run with a dramatic dunk and setting up a jumper by sophomore forward Ray Nixon at the 10-minute mark that gave Wisconsin a 9-7 lead. It would hold the lead the rest of the game.
Ryan's praise for Morley was muted after the game. ""He's got a lot to work on, as all the guys do, defensively,"" he said. ""When the shots are there, we know he can make them.""
Morley acknowledged the same, adding, ""I tried to come in and add a little spark, add a little energy; help wherever I could. ... I'm still behind on what I need to do.""
Despite a peculiarly low 21-19 halftime score and the rough start, Wilkinson hit his stride at the start of the second half, putting up a three-pointer and an assist, as he and junior guard Devin Harris led the Badgers on a 9-0 run. Harris led all scorers with 18 points and was eight for nine in free throws. Though they shared substantial floor time, Morley's first-half showing seemed to supplement Wilkinson's stumbling start, and Morley played just six minutes in the second half as Wilkinson established strong, consistent play.
""I wasn't having the greatest game on the offensive end, so I tried to do what I could on the defensive end,"" Wilkinson said of his first half performance in which he was held scoreless but offered up four steals and two rebounds. ""We had a few more turnovers than we would have liked.\
