Wednesday, December 29, 2010
Badgers get off on the right foot with Conference-Opening Win
Like Coach Ryan said after the game, we’re 1-0 in the Big Ten and we have 17 more to go. That kind of put it into perspective for us that it is only one game. It was a big game for us, and we’re going to try to use it as momentum into the Big Ten season. Right now we have to start focusing on Illinois. We’ll enjoy this one but look to Illinois.”
Tuesday, December 28, 2010
Friday, December 24, 2010
Leuer Gets UW Going in Easy Victory
After a week off for finals, the Badgers quickly erased any thought of rust as they cruised to an 80-56 victory over Coppin State on Thursday night. The Eagles did manage to get on the board, but that 2-0 Coppin State lead would be the last deficit UW would face as a 20-7 Wisconsin run quickly put the game out of reach.
Needing 26 points to get to 1,000 for his career, senior forward Jon Leuer was hot early, hitting 4/5 from three-point range in the first four minutes of play to post the first 14 UW points, eventually going on to finish the game with 19 points and 5 rebounds.
"I was able to knock down the first couple and got into a rhythm,” Leuer said. “My teammates were finding me in open spots, and I was finding myself open a lot against that zone. I was just picking spots where I knew teammates could find me, and I just knocked them down."
As has been the case throughout the non-conference season, Jon Leuer's hot start gave way to Jordan Taylor's crisp finish. After Leuer gave Wisconsin the lead, it was Taylor that made sure the Eagles never posed a real threat from there in. The junior guard didn't score in the first 12 minutes of play but still managed to match Leuer's 19 points while also grabbing 7 rebounds and contributing 6 assists.
Though the same Leuer-Taylor story was certainly a part of this victory, the 31 points contributed by UW’s bench was a welcome sight as the Badgers head into conference play.
“They went in and made things happen. They were active. Each individual has strengths and each individual has weaknesses, and we just keep probing for the strengths. To try and get guys to understand what they can do when they come in…” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “So entering the Big Ten season hopefully we’ll stay in the position that we are, in that guys just keep working. The bench, you’ve got to have it. Nobody plays five guys and you’re not going to be successful without it.”
One of those surprises was senior Tim Jarmusz. Coming off a disappointing 2009-2010 campaign, Jarmusz’s non-conference performances thus far had been nothing to get excited about. But the forward finally caught fire on Thursday night, finishing the night 4-5 from beyond the arc for 12 points in 16 minutes of play off the bench.
And with brother Adam home from Afghanistan for the holidays, Thursday night truly was a special one for the Oshkosh native.
“Today was just one of those nights where I felt like anything I threw up was going in,” Jarmusz said. “Adam was here but he's been to a couple games before. We just worked really well at moving the ball in the zone and find people. I was just able to knock down shots when I was open."
Despite disappointing losses at UNLV and in the Old Spice final against Notre Dame, the Badgers head into conference play with a very respectable 10-2 record including wins over Marquette and NC State. But starting with Minnesota on Tuesday night, the cupcake games are now over and every night will bring a significant challenge.
Needing 26 points to get to 1,000 for his career, senior forward Jon Leuer was hot early, hitting 4/5 from three-point range in the first four minutes of play to post the first 14 UW points, eventually going on to finish the game with 19 points and 5 rebounds.
"I was able to knock down the first couple and got into a rhythm,” Leuer said. “My teammates were finding me in open spots, and I was finding myself open a lot against that zone. I was just picking spots where I knew teammates could find me, and I just knocked them down."
As has been the case throughout the non-conference season, Jon Leuer's hot start gave way to Jordan Taylor's crisp finish. After Leuer gave Wisconsin the lead, it was Taylor that made sure the Eagles never posed a real threat from there in. The junior guard didn't score in the first 12 minutes of play but still managed to match Leuer's 19 points while also grabbing 7 rebounds and contributing 6 assists.
Though the same Leuer-Taylor story was certainly a part of this victory, the 31 points contributed by UW’s bench was a welcome sight as the Badgers head into conference play.
“They went in and made things happen. They were active. Each individual has strengths and each individual has weaknesses, and we just keep probing for the strengths. To try and get guys to understand what they can do when they come in…” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “So entering the Big Ten season hopefully we’ll stay in the position that we are, in that guys just keep working. The bench, you’ve got to have it. Nobody plays five guys and you’re not going to be successful without it.”
One of those surprises was senior Tim Jarmusz. Coming off a disappointing 2009-2010 campaign, Jarmusz’s non-conference performances thus far had been nothing to get excited about. But the forward finally caught fire on Thursday night, finishing the night 4-5 from beyond the arc for 12 points in 16 minutes of play off the bench.
And with brother Adam home from Afghanistan for the holidays, Thursday night truly was a special one for the Oshkosh native.
“Today was just one of those nights where I felt like anything I threw up was going in,” Jarmusz said. “Adam was here but he's been to a couple games before. We just worked really well at moving the ball in the zone and find people. I was just able to knock down shots when I was open."
Despite disappointing losses at UNLV and in the Old Spice final against Notre Dame, the Badgers head into conference play with a very respectable 10-2 record including wins over Marquette and NC State. But starting with Minnesota on Tuesday night, the cupcake games are now over and every night will bring a significant challenge.
Tuesday, December 14, 2010
Badgers Complete In-State Sweep with Victory over Green Bay
While the temperatures outside the Kohl Center may have been hovering around zero, the shooting of Wisconsin’s big men inside the arena was much, much hotter. On the backs of 3 double digit scoring efforts from the front court, UW was able to notch a 70-56 win over Green Bay and head into the finals break with a sweep of all three in-state rivals.
Senior forward Jon Leuer once again led the scoring with 22 points, but it was the performance put in by sophomore Mike Bruesewitz that captured the attention of the meager Kohl Center crowd. On the strength of 6-8 shooting (2-4 from 3-point range), Bruesewitz notched a career-high 18 points to go along with 4 rebounds and a block.
“ I think the difference between Mike his freshman year and now is that he feels so confident in what he is doing now,” senior forward Keaton Nankivil said. “All summer, he was one of the toughest match-ups day-in and day-out with the number of things he can do and how hard he plays. I think all of the guys on the team knew what he was capable of.”
Coming off a solid offensive performance of his own on Saturday, Nankivil continued to shoot the ball well, hitting 4-5 three’s and finishing the night with a season-high 16 points and 6 rebounds.
“Any time we can get good production and get things going like Mike and Keaton did tonight, it’s just another dimension for our team,” Leuer said. “Multiple guys scoring in double figures, four tonight, that just puts pressure on the defense {…}We’re a pretty dynamic team when we have all of these good parts working.”
While much of the 2nd half was played with Wisconsin holding a double-digit lead, this game was anything but a blowout in the early going. Although the Badgers shot the ball well from the onset, the Phoenix matched them through the first 9 minutes, taking a 13-12 lead with 10:53 left in the first half before Jon Leuer’s free throws just 24 seconds later put Wisconsin ahead for good.
Like they have done in many recent games, the Badgers didn’t look back upon taking the lead, finishing the first half on a 21-8 run to take a 12-point lead into the half.
“I thought in the first half we had a five-minute span that really cost us the game,” Green Bay head coach Brian Wardle said. “I thought the last five minutes in the first half, where we broke down defensively and we took a few bad shots, killed our rhythm and now we’re down 11 or 12.”
From there, Wisconsin grew the lead to 18 early in the second half as the offense continued to work the ball inside-out and in turn get UW open looks time after time.
“Usually you’re working with a lead trying to get to the free throw line, or make people pay by being aggressive,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “We did it sometimes, we didn’t do it all the time, but our points per possession were pretty good, we got to the line and for the most part we hit them. Our 3-point shot selection was excellent.”
Now sitting at 9-2, the Badgers will take a nine-day break for finals before finishing out the non-conference slate next Thursday against Coppin State. Beyond the Eagles, Big Ten play is now just two weeks away with this season’s sole date with Minnesota set for December 28.
Senior forward Jon Leuer once again led the scoring with 22 points, but it was the performance put in by sophomore Mike Bruesewitz that captured the attention of the meager Kohl Center crowd. On the strength of 6-8 shooting (2-4 from 3-point range), Bruesewitz notched a career-high 18 points to go along with 4 rebounds and a block.
“ I think the difference between Mike his freshman year and now is that he feels so confident in what he is doing now,” senior forward Keaton Nankivil said. “All summer, he was one of the toughest match-ups day-in and day-out with the number of things he can do and how hard he plays. I think all of the guys on the team knew what he was capable of.”
Coming off a solid offensive performance of his own on Saturday, Nankivil continued to shoot the ball well, hitting 4-5 three’s and finishing the night with a season-high 16 points and 6 rebounds.
“Any time we can get good production and get things going like Mike and Keaton did tonight, it’s just another dimension for our team,” Leuer said. “Multiple guys scoring in double figures, four tonight, that just puts pressure on the defense {…}We’re a pretty dynamic team when we have all of these good parts working.”
While much of the 2nd half was played with Wisconsin holding a double-digit lead, this game was anything but a blowout in the early going. Although the Badgers shot the ball well from the onset, the Phoenix matched them through the first 9 minutes, taking a 13-12 lead with 10:53 left in the first half before Jon Leuer’s free throws just 24 seconds later put Wisconsin ahead for good.
Like they have done in many recent games, the Badgers didn’t look back upon taking the lead, finishing the first half on a 21-8 run to take a 12-point lead into the half.
“I thought in the first half we had a five-minute span that really cost us the game,” Green Bay head coach Brian Wardle said. “I thought the last five minutes in the first half, where we broke down defensively and we took a few bad shots, killed our rhythm and now we’re down 11 or 12.”
From there, Wisconsin grew the lead to 18 early in the second half as the offense continued to work the ball inside-out and in turn get UW open looks time after time.
“Usually you’re working with a lead trying to get to the free throw line, or make people pay by being aggressive,” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “We did it sometimes, we didn’t do it all the time, but our points per possession were pretty good, we got to the line and for the most part we hit them. Our 3-point shot selection was excellent.”
Now sitting at 9-2, the Badgers will take a nine-day break for finals before finishing out the non-conference slate next Thursday against Coppin State. Beyond the Eagles, Big Ten play is now just two weeks away with this season’s sole date with Minnesota set for December 28.
Monday, December 13, 2010
Team Effort Comes Up Big in Road Win Over Marquette
In front of a hostile crowd of over 19,000 at the Bradley Center on Saturday, the Badgers finally notched that signature non-conference victory with a 69-64 win over Marquette.
While dominating performances from Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer had fueled much of the 7-2 start, Saturday’s victory was very much a team effort. Though Leuer and Taylor still led the way with 17 and 16 points respectively, contributions from role players like Keaton Nankivil (12 points, 3 rebounds), Mike Bruesewitz (2 points, 8 rebounds), and Jared Berggren (8 points) got Wisconsin over the hump.
“In order to win games like this on the road against good teams, you have to have that kind of effort from other guys…” UW Head Coach Bo Ryan said after the game. “They’ve had opportunities and in this game they took advantage of them.”
Though the Badgers have taken care of business at the Kohl Center, Saturday’s win was the first on the road, countering what was sure to be criticism of their ability to win away from Madison heading into the Big Ten slate.
“They weren’t frazzled, you know, the great advantage was we played in Vegas in a possession-for-possession game,” Ryan said. “That’s how we walk away with this one today.”
Despite improved shooting from the Badgers, Marquette still out-shot UW by nearly 3%. The difference ultimately came down to Wisconsin’s domination on the offensive boards, allowing them to outscore the Golden Eagles 21-4 on 2nd chance opportunities.
With Marquette a team fully capable of getting on a scoring spurt, the 15 offensive rebounds were a huge part of UW’s ability to hold a lead (albeit barely) that burgeoned from 2 at the half to as much as 12 in the 2nd half before MU started their final run.
“That was huge for us,” senior forward Jon Leuer said. “Getting those 2nd chances and then we were able to bring it back out and run the clock.”
Though Marquette trailed the entire game after Keaton Nankivil’s 3-point bucket just over 5 minutes into the game, this was a battle for all 40 minutes.
Wisconsin held a 2-point lead at the half and was quickly able to take that lead to double digits, starting the half on a 21-11 run over the course of just under 9 minutes.
After holding that lead around the 10-point mark for the next five minutes, Marquette finally went on the run everyone in the Bradley Center knew they would make.
The Badgers only missed 3 free throws down the stretch, but the Golden Eagles capitalized on every one of those, going on an 14-5 run of their own to cut the lead to just two with less than ten seconds left.
Having already missed a crucial front end of a one-and-one earlier, Jordan Taylor hit the first free throw to give UW a 3-point cushion but missed the 2nd to give Marquette a chance.
At that point, Josh Gasser put an end to the madness, knocking a dribble off Marquette guard Dwight Buycks’ knee and giving Wisconsin the ball and in the minds of most in the crowd, the game.
“As a freshman, to make the kind of plays he does, it gives us a huge lift,” Leuer added. “He’s helped us out a lot and he’s going to continue to help us out.”
After Jordan Taylor added two more free throws, Marquette was out of time and Wisconsin was on their way back down I-94 with that signature win they’d come to Milwaukee to get.
While dominating performances from Jordan Taylor and Jon Leuer had fueled much of the 7-2 start, Saturday’s victory was very much a team effort. Though Leuer and Taylor still led the way with 17 and 16 points respectively, contributions from role players like Keaton Nankivil (12 points, 3 rebounds), Mike Bruesewitz (2 points, 8 rebounds), and Jared Berggren (8 points) got Wisconsin over the hump.
“In order to win games like this on the road against good teams, you have to have that kind of effort from other guys…” UW Head Coach Bo Ryan said after the game. “They’ve had opportunities and in this game they took advantage of them.”
Though the Badgers have taken care of business at the Kohl Center, Saturday’s win was the first on the road, countering what was sure to be criticism of their ability to win away from Madison heading into the Big Ten slate.
“They weren’t frazzled, you know, the great advantage was we played in Vegas in a possession-for-possession game,” Ryan said. “That’s how we walk away with this one today.”
Despite improved shooting from the Badgers, Marquette still out-shot UW by nearly 3%. The difference ultimately came down to Wisconsin’s domination on the offensive boards, allowing them to outscore the Golden Eagles 21-4 on 2nd chance opportunities.
With Marquette a team fully capable of getting on a scoring spurt, the 15 offensive rebounds were a huge part of UW’s ability to hold a lead (albeit barely) that burgeoned from 2 at the half to as much as 12 in the 2nd half before MU started their final run.
“That was huge for us,” senior forward Jon Leuer said. “Getting those 2nd chances and then we were able to bring it back out and run the clock.”
Though Marquette trailed the entire game after Keaton Nankivil’s 3-point bucket just over 5 minutes into the game, this was a battle for all 40 minutes.
Wisconsin held a 2-point lead at the half and was quickly able to take that lead to double digits, starting the half on a 21-11 run over the course of just under 9 minutes.
After holding that lead around the 10-point mark for the next five minutes, Marquette finally went on the run everyone in the Bradley Center knew they would make.
The Badgers only missed 3 free throws down the stretch, but the Golden Eagles capitalized on every one of those, going on an 14-5 run of their own to cut the lead to just two with less than ten seconds left.
Having already missed a crucial front end of a one-and-one earlier, Jordan Taylor hit the first free throw to give UW a 3-point cushion but missed the 2nd to give Marquette a chance.
At that point, Josh Gasser put an end to the madness, knocking a dribble off Marquette guard Dwight Buycks’ knee and giving Wisconsin the ball and in the minds of most in the crowd, the game.
“As a freshman, to make the kind of plays he does, it gives us a huge lift,” Leuer added. “He’s helped us out a lot and he’s going to continue to help us out.”
After Jordan Taylor added two more free throws, Marquette was out of time and Wisconsin was on their way back down I-94 with that signature win they’d come to Milwaukee to get.
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