The Wisconsin men’s basketball team took on UW-Platteville at the Kohl Center last night in an exhibition game to open the season. The Badgers beat the division three program and former home to head coach Bo Ryan, as they took the game 80-51.
The UW starting lineup was senior guard Ben Brust, junior guard Traevon Jackson, redshirt junior guard Josh Gasser, sophomore forward Sam Dekker and junior forward Frank Kaminsky.
Still, Ryan looked to the bench early and often. “I’m still trying to find out who’s ready to grab the minutes,” Ryan said. “Every coach is at this time. You’ll see a lot of this in these exhibition games.”
The Pioneers stayed somewhat competitive with Wisconsin early on, thanks to Platteville guard Jim Stocki, who converted on a pair of deep jump shots and a swift floater in the lane.
The Badgers made a run midway through the first half after Kaminsky sparked the Badger offense by stealing the ball and taking it coast to coast for the layup.
UW showcased its freshman class early on, including highly recruited forward Nigel Hayes.
The nerves were only briefly visible for the freshman making his first home appearance. “I settled down and got more comfortable, and you know, just realized its still playing basketball, it just went from 5,000 fans to, you know, maybe 14-15,000,”said Hayes. “It’s the same game, you just got to get out there, get comfortable and have fun.”
Hayes certainly did settle down and was an instant presence on the boards, as he tallied a team high six rebounds, with five of them coming on the offensive end. “He showed that he’s here for a reason. He’s not going away anytime soon,” said Ryan. Hayes finished the game shooting 4-7 for eight points in a mere 14 minutes of play.
Another player who asserted himself as a potential playmaker for the Badgers this season was redshirt junior forward Duje Dukan. The six foot nine inch forward was one of the first players off the bench and did not skip a beat, despite redshirting last season. Dukan hit a three pointer within minutes of entering the game and finished the game 2-3 from beyond the arc. He also grabbed four rebounds in 13 minutes of play.
The Pioneers were able to gain ground towards the end of the half and only trailed 37-30 at halftime.
The second half mirrored the first early on, as the Badgers held a double-digit lead, but could not completely shake the Pioneers.
That trend would only continue until Brust and Dekker combined for a pair of three’s in consecutive possessions to give Wisconsin a commanding 18-point lead.
UW coasted for the remainder of the game, in part because of the much improved 3-point shooting. The Badgers were only 1-11 shooting the 3-point ball in the first half, while they shot 6-11 in the second half. Not surprisingly, Brust lead the team with 20 points and 30 minutes played.
UW’s second half shooting and domination of the paint proved to be too much for the Pioneers.
Wisconsin scored 40 points in the paint to Platteville’s 18.
The Badgers will continue their exhibition play Saturday, while their first regular season game is Nov. 8 against St. Johns.
