UW-Green Bay made it a game Tuesday night-for the final 36 minutes. Unfortunately for the Phoenix, four minutes into the game the Badgers had already jumped to a 12-0 lead, a spurt from which Green Bay would never recover as Wisconsin won 65-55.
The Phoenix ran with the Badgers the rest of the game. Both teams had their spurts, but those first four minutes dictated the outcome of the game.
\The story was the start of [the game],"" UWGB Head Coach Tod Kowalczyk said. ""We had some opportunities to score inside early and didn't convert. When you start out in a hole like we did tonight it was hard to catch up.""
Senior forward Mike Wilkinson started right where he left off against Rutgers. He scored seven of the 12 points during the opening run, and finished with a game-high 18 points.
""You like to get off to a start like that,"" UW Head Coach Bo Ryan said. ""It was good to see what we could do.""
Wisconsin (5-1 overall) sustained the lead, building it to as much as 21 points. The Badgers did not score in the last 4:50 of the first half, but they did not need to, as they took a 14-point lead into the break.
The Badgers relied on their starting five throughout the game. Senior forward Andreas Helmigk was the only substantial threat off the bench, scoring nine points in the game.
""For him it starts on defense. He was physical inside tonight,"" Wilkinson said. ""He's got a lot of confidence coming off the bench.""
Senior guard Sharif Chambliss led the charge, dropping 10 points in the first half on his way to 13 for the game.
""[Chambliss is] more trustworthy with the ball right now,"" Ryan said. ""He's gained the confidence of the team, but more importantly he has the confidence in himself to be able to get things done.""
UWGB (4-2) went to its bench to spark some offense. Junior guard Benito Flores scored six points in just seven first-half minutes, but the Phoenix could never cut the lead to less than seven points.
The Badgers as a team shot 48 percent from the floor in the first half, led by Chambliss who was 3-of-4 and senior forward Mike Wilkinson who went 4-of-6 for nine first-half points.
The two teams battled back and forth throughout the second half, Wisconsin relying mostly on their big men down low.
Sophomore forward Alando Tucker set the tone early in the half. He scored nine of his 10 second-half points in the first four minutes and finished with 16 points and five rebounds.
Senior forward Zach Morley pitched in seven points and seven rebounds in the game as the Badgers went to him, Helmigk and Wilkinson during the second half.
The Badgers' defense set the stage for the offense. Green Bay's three starting guards, sophomore Ryan Evanochko, senior Javier Mendiburu and senior Matt Rohde, were held to just seven-of-21 from the floor on the night, a credit to the Badgers' perimeter defense.
""We're starting to get a better rhythm on defense,"" Chambliss said.
The Badgers kept a healthy lead until the final five minutes. They again failed to score over the final 4:47, making the final score closer than the game really was. The Phoenix hit a three-pointer to end the game, cutting the deficit to 10, the closest the game had been since midway through the first half.
""I don't think tonight we were ever a serious threat, and that bothers me,"" Kowalczyk said. ""I thought we had the opportunity to come in here and be a threat to them.""
The Badgers now begin to look ahead to another in-state rival as they head down the road to take on Marquette Saturday.
