Usually when a team has a field goal percentage north of 50 percent, the team pulls away with a win or keeps the game relatively close.
Unfortunately this was not the case as the Wisconsin Badgers (1-5 overall) fell to the Miami Hurricanes (5-2) 66-44 Thursday night in the ACC/BIG Ten Challenge in Coral Gables, Florida.
From the 19:45 mark in the first half, the Hurricanes led by a comfortable margin in both halves and controlled their lead.
In the first half, the Badgers shot a respectable shooting percentage of 57.9 percent and held Miami to a subpar 36.6 percent shooting percentage, though Wisconsin found themselves outside looking in as they were down by 9 points by halftime.
Though the Badgers only trailed by a slim margin at the half, they simply could not revamp their second half game plan as they ended up trailing by even more points and by the 5:59 mark in the second half, they were down by 16 points.
The Badgers continued to shoot well in the second half, however, making 54.3 percent of their shots and holding Miami down to a 34.7 percent shooting percentage.
In both halves the Badgers exemplified stout defense as they held the Hurricanes to under a 37 percent shooting percentage, but the Hurricanes ended up shooting 72 times compared to Wisconsin’s 35.
Miami also capitalized off of Wisconsin’s turnovers as they scored 28 points, nearly half of their point total for the night.
Second chance buckets enabled the Hurricanes to pull away with the lead as well, as they scored 19 points from these opportunities compared to the Badgers’ anemic three.
Senior forward Jacki Gulczynski and junior guard Nicole Bauman led the Badgers in points as each contributed 18.
Miami sophomore guard Adrienne Motley led both teams with 21 points and seven rebounds and senior guard Suriya McGuire contributed 19 points for the Hurricanes as well.
The Badgers will look to rebound from four consecutive losses, but so far this season they have been plagued with turnover issues which take away offensive scoring opportunities and lead to effortless opposing scores.
In their past three losses, the Badgers have averaged 20 turnovers which continues to hinder the team from winning and escaping their recent plunge.
With a tough opening nonconference schedule, Wisconsin will now face instate rival Marquette Saturday at the Kohl Center.
