Elsewhere in the B1G: Wisconsin regains I-94 supremacy, holds off visiting Marquette

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No. 8 Wisconsin 70, Marquette 64

For perhaps the first time all season, the new look, high-flying Badgers looked like the Wisconsin of old, scoring a 48-38 victory in Charlottesville on Wednesday. In the first half of this afternoon's game against the visiting 5-3 Marquette Golden Eagles, it appeared as if Bo Ryan's squad was in for another hammer fight of a basketball game. 

Hampered by foul trouble --Frank Kaminsky (2), Traveon Jackson (2) and Nigel Hayes (2)-- the Badgers, already thin in the front court, were forced to deploy backups Evan Anderson and Zach Bohannon. 

Even so, Marquette wasn't able to take advantage of UW's foul issues. Wisconsin got to the half up 28-25, paced by 13 points from sophomore Sam Dekker, including a monstrous dunk near the end of the half to energize the Kohl Center crowd. Despite sitting at 9-0 with a shiny top 10 ranking, this game meant a little something extra for the Badgers, who had lost two in a row to their in-state rivals (including a loss in the Kohl Center two years ago, ending a 23-game UW home winning streak). 

Unfortunately for Marquette, a violation of team rules sidelined 6-foot-3 junior guard Todd Mayo, MU's third leading scorer (10.0 ppg). Without him, the Golden Eagles found the offensive end tough sledding. F Davante Gardner managed nine points in the first half, but MU struggled to get much production elsewhere. 

As of six minutes into the second half, the Golden Eagles were shooting just 37.1 percent from the field (13-for-35); not quite as bad as MU's afternoon against Ohio State, but not good any way you slice it. 

In the face of questions regarding Wisconsin's defense --which has been good but not elite as it has typically been under Ryan-- the Badgers have put the clamps down this week against UVA and MU. Bo Ryan's squad has surprised some folks (myself included) with respect to its ability to push the pace this season, but this week has represented quite the return to the old style of Wisconsin basketball everyone has come to know. In case watching a Badgers squad execute in transition has been especially disorienting for you, it appears as if they may be returning to a more familiar style of play as we approach Big Ten play. 

The Badgers began to pull away in the opening 10 minutes of the second half, jumping to a 44-36 lead by the 12-minute mark. 

MU's Jamil Wilson buried a jumper to cut the lead to eight, putting himself in the double-digits in points (10), joining Gardner in that category. However, save for eight points from C Chris Otule, MU continued to get little else from the supporting cast. The five guards logging playing time for the Golden Eagles tallied just five points among them through 30 minutes. Against a team with a stacked back court like Wisconsin, it's difficult to be in a position to win with that sort of production (or lack thereof). 

The Badgers responded to Wilson's jumper with an alley oop dunk to Dekker, then a forced turnover on the defensive end. Wilson responded with two more points, and, as if on cue, Dekker nailed a triple from the corner on the heels of a loose ball situation. 

Like I said about the Michigan-Duke game on Tuesday, even when the score appears close by the box score, good teams provide a response when necessary, even if they aren't playing especially well overall. Playing at a place like the Kohl Center, that sort of auto-response from a home favorite can be demoralizing. 

It seemed as if MU would never string together a series of buckets and stops to make it a game; yet, somehow, the Badgers couldn't quite put them away. A 3-point play from MU's Otule cut the lead to six with 2:53 to play, giving the Golden Eagles real hope for the first time since the first half. 

The Golden Eagles got the stop they needed on the ensuing possession, then Wilson buried a triple from the right side, cutting the deficit to three. The positive feelings from that sequence, however, were short-lived. 

Once again, UW answered, this time with a Kaminsky triple from the top of the key. Wilson's 3-point attempt at the other end landed off the mark, ushering in the desperation fouling portion of the game. 

The Golden Eagles hung in the game far longer than it appeared like they should have. Regardless, the Badgers made more plays down the stretch than did Marquette, and that is, ultimately, what won the day for the still undefeated Badgers. 

With the the 70-64 victory, the Badgers moved to 10-0 on the season, an incredible start featuring several quality wins. In addition, the Badgers snapped a 2-game losing streak against their in-state rival. 

Wisconsin returns to the Kohl Center on Wednesday for what might be a tricky game against the 8-2 Milwaukee Panthers of the Horizon League. 

Meanwhile, Marquette falls to a disappointing 5-4 on the season, with four games remaining on its nonconference schedule. Buzz Williams' squad has some work to do if it is going to climb out of the bottom half of the standings in the new Big East. 

But, as all college basketball fans say following a loss at this point in the season: It's only December.

Big Ten Basketball Weekend Roundup

While Michigan fans were busy sweating out a triple overtime victory against Northwestern, several Big Ten basketball squads were in action yesterday, all four scoring victories of varying significance. Of course, the Wolverines face off against Iowa State later today in Ames.

Here's what happened around the Big Ten yesterday:

No. 20 Wisconsin 69, Green Bay 66

The Badgers jumped on US-151 yesterday and headed for Ashwaubenon, Wis., where they faced the Green Bay Phoenix of the Horizon League.

Bo Ryan's squad went down 15-9 early, but the Badgers pulled into the half with a 34-29 lead after averaging 1.14 points per possession. Sam Dekker led UW in the first half with eight points on 4-of-6 from the field. Josh Gasser bounced back from a scoreless Florida outing to put up seven points in the first half.

The Phoenix not only hung around in the second half, they owned a 4-point lead with just over 10 minutes left to play. Green Bay guard Keifer Sykes killed the Badgers all game, finishing the night with 32 points.

However, a 10-0 run by the Badgers put them up 60-54 with six minutes left to play, a lead they would not relinquish. Frank Kaminsky, not known for his play down low, came up big late in the game with several big baskets from the post. Kaminsky logged a double-double on the night (16 points, 11 rebounds).

Possibly Kaminsky's biggest play of the game came with four seconds remaining and the Badgers up 68-66. After Traevon Jackson split a pair of free throws, UW-GB had the chance to tie or take the lead. Sykes drove hard to the rim, but Kaminsky helped, swatted the shot and corraled the rebound. Kaminsky went on to also split a pair of free throws at the other end, giving Sykes once last chance at a desperation three.

The shot at the buzzer landed just off the mark, allowing the Badgers to escape with a victory that was probably much closer than they expected it to be. UW-Green Bay will be a team to watch in the Horizon League going forward (and come March Madness, should they make the field).

No. 10 Ohio State 52, No. 17 Marquette 35 

The football team was busy notching its 22nd victory in a row, a 60-35 victory at Illinois. Meanwhile, the basketball team notched a victory with a nearly identical score, which should be a pretty solid indicator of the type of basketball team Thad Matta has this year. They'll have to find more scoring as the year goes on, but that defense is nasty. 

Marquette shot an abysmal 18.9% from the field. Shannon Scott and Aaro Craft led the Buckeyes with 13 and 10 points, respectively; F Sam Thompson pitched in 13 from the bench. LaQuinton Ross, however, who had himself a nice tournament run this past March, went 0-of-6 from the field and scored zero points. 

It wasn't the most aesthetically pleasing game of all time, but a win against a ranked Marquette team, in Milwaukee, will likely end up a quality victory come tournament time. 

Penn State 83, Penn 71

The Nittany Lions lost the second half by 11 points; luckily for them, they went into halftime up by 23. In case you didn't already know, Tim Frazier is back: he scored 29 points on 9-of-13 shooting. Frazier also added seven assists, but did cough up six turnovers. 

Penn State is now 2-1 on the season. 

Minnesota 74, Richmond 59

Richard Pitino's Minnesota squad also hit the road on Saturday, traveling to Richmond's Robins Center. The Gophers jumped out to an early 12-0 lead but went into the half up just 40-37. 

From there, the game was fairly even for the first 13 minutes or so of the second half. The Spiders went up 59-55 with 7:25 to play, but the Gophers surged ahead with a 19-0 run to close the game. Andre Hollins paced the Gophers with 26 points; Austin Hollins, Malik Smith and Joey King also cracked double-digits.