The holidays are creeping up and the Badgers were in a giving mood.
Wisconsin provided jerseys, shorts and shoes to the Florida International ball club Saturday afternoon, after the Panthers' difficult travel experience left them with none of their luggage and less than five hours of sleep. But that's as far as UW's holiday spirit extended as the No. 12 Badgers (7-1 overall) handily defeated the Panthers (3-5) 79-63 at the Kohl Center.
Senior forward Alando Tucker, the Big Ten's leading scorer, only had 10 points on 3-of-6 shooting, but senior guard Kammron Taylor stepped up with 16 and freshman guard Jason Bohannon had nine on three timely long range buckets.
Wisconsin used two runs to spark the victory, with the first coming early in the first half. After FIU hit three early 3-pointers to take a 9-5 lead, the Badgers battled back with Taylor scoring the next two baskets to give UW a 10-9 lead. After Florida International's Alex Galindo scored to put the Bears up by one, FIU failed to knock down a field goal for the next nine minutes.
During that time, the Badgers were able to build up an 11-point lead, due to the scorching hot shooting from Bohannon. The freshman knocked down three 3-point shots, including a crowd pleaser in which he saved a ball from going out of bounds to Tucker, who dished it right back to Bohannon, and nailed the 3-pointer.
""On the open shots, we reversed the ball really well,"" Bohannon said. ""They just found me and I hit the open shot. Great teamwork.""
UW head coach Bo Ryan was pleased with the play of Bohannon, but certainly not surprised.
""I like people that expect to get on the floor and do good things, not be tentative or nervous,"" Ryan said. ""We'll take it from anybody, but he's been doing in practice and that's why he gets to go in the game.""
The second big run came for the Badgers when they started the second half. After a basket by FIU's Chris Fuller cut the UW lead to nine, Taylor took over. The senior knocked down a trio of 3-pointers of his own and led Wisconsin on a 17-2 run, capped off by a 3-pointer by sophomore forward Joe Krabbenhoft.
Ryan was shocked at how the Panthers continuously left Taylor uncovered.
""I might have made those if I was out there on the court, I couldn't believe how wide open he was,"" Ryan said.
""Coach tells us to never get too high and never get too low, so we just play at a level pace,"" said Taylor, who shot 4-of-4 from behind the arc. ""We don't go out and try to force anything.""
The only thorn in the Badgers' side the whole day was the play of FIU's guard Johwen Villegas. The senior nearly doubled his team-leading scoring average, pacing the Bears with 24 and breaking a Kohl Center record with seven 3-pointers.
The Badgers' highly praised depth was certainly on display, as their bench contributed with 34 points and 12 rebounds. Krabbenhoft had 10 points, while his classmate Marcus Landry had seven points and six rebounds.
Florida International's third-year coach Sergio Rucco emphasized he did not want his team's travel ordeals to be an excuse for the loss.
""I've got a bunch of kids from different countries that have come from hard situations and being in an airport for 18 hours is not a hard situation,"" Rucco said.
Ryan stated that sometimes teams can use those troubles as a way to motivate themselves.
""That didn't look like a team that wasn't rested. They looked like a team that came to play and maybe used that adversity to play even better,"" Ryan said. ""We've all had those trials and tribulations, but my teams never got free uniforms out of it.""
