In their first two games of the season, the Wisconsin men's basketball team (2-0 overall) found varying degrees of success; luckily, both resulted in victories in sunny St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands. In their first game of the Paradise Jam tournament on Friday, the Badgers cruised to an 80-51 victory over Norfolk State behind 23 points from sophomore forward/center Brian Butch steady shooting (31-of-63 for 49.2 percent) and out- rebounding the Spartans 43-26.
The Appleton native had the coming-out party many had been hoping to see early in the season, showing a well-rounded game in which he grabbed seven rebounds and dished out four assists. Butch also displayed the long-range shooting ability that he had been so touted for coming out of high school, going 3-of-4 from beyond the arc.
'[Butch's] teammates found him tonight, and with good ball movement. A lot of times he was wide open,' Badgers head coach Bo Ryan said. 'Brian was able to score inside and outside.'
In their second game, coming on only 24 hours rest, the Badgers defeated Eastern Kentucky 95-89 in two overtimes. UW faced a much stiffer challenge against an Eastern Kentucky team that played a nearly flawless game. Running their Princeton-style offense to perfection, the Colonels put up points early and often on Wisconsin.
The Colonels also employed a trapping match-up zone style of defense which gave the Badgers fits all game and caused a combined nine turnovers between junior guard Kammron Taylor and sophomore Michael Flowers. Luckily the Badgers were able to produce enough offense, largely on the heels of a career-high 38 point performance from junior forward Alando Tucker.
Tucker also contributed 10 rebounds and was supported by strong performances from freshman forward Marcus Landry, who scored 19 points and had eight rebounds, and Taylor who had 15 points on 5-of-9 three point shooting. Taylor also hit the biggest shot of the night on a three-point basket coming with only 3.3 seconds left on the clock that would end up sending the game into a second overtime.
Leading the way for Eastern Kentucky was senior guard Matt Witt, who, despite the constant hounding defense of Flowers, managed to score 25 points on 6-of-10 shooting from beyond the arc.
'[The game] was very competitive; everything was hard fought,' Ryan said. 'I thought offensively ... we were very productive.'
Next up for the Badgers will be the Monarchs of Old Dominion (2-0), who advanced to the final round on the heels of a 65-52 victory over Fordham. Winners of 28 games last season, the Monarchs will be the toughest opponent the Badgers have seen thus far in the Virgin Islands.
Old Dominion senior forward/center and preseason All-American Alex Loughton scored 17 points and grabbed 15 rebounds in the victory over Fordham and should prove to be a good indicator of Wisconsin's interior defense and rebounding abilities.
The Badgers and Monarchs will square off tonight at 7:30 p.m. for the tournament crown.
