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Wisconsin starts strong in rolling past Wisconsin-Green Bay

Nov 16, 2006 - 3:44 AM MADISON, Wisconsin (Ticker) -- This time, Alando Tucker and ninth-ranked Wisconsin put Wisconsin-Green Bay away early.

Tucker scored 13 of his 18 points in the first half as the Badgers coasted to a 79-62 victory over the Phoenix in a intrastate contest.

Improving to 13-0 in the all-time series, Wisconsin (2-0) was at the top of its game from the start, scoring 22 of the game's first 26 points within the opening eight minutes.

Michael Flowers scored eight points and Tucker and Marcus Landry both added five as the Badgers made nine of their first 15 shots from the field.

"Sometimes you just have to go with what the other team gives you," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said about the strong start. "There was still a few, and every game has them, shots that we could have passed it on, but the score indicated that we were doing good things."

The strong start was enabled by the Badgers' ability to keep the contest in the half-court, preventing the Phoenix from getting out in the open court like they wanted to.

"We're a team that needs to play in transition and Wisconsin is just the opposite," Wisconsin-Green Bay coach Tod Kowalczyk said. "They like the half-court game. And with the stoppage of the clock we didn't have a chance to get into a flow throughout the course of the game, but especially in the first eight minutes."

This was the opposite of last year's meeting, when the Phoenix led, 47-46, with 17 minutes remaining before the Badgers rallied for a 20-point victory.

Tucker, who finished 6-of-15, continued the onslaught by sandwiching a layup and a jumper around two free throws by Flowers, making it 40-24 with 4:26 left in the first half.

Trailing by 16 points at intermission, Wisconsin-Green Bay (0-2) went on a 7-2 run to start the second half, closing within 47-36 with 18:05 remaining.

But Tucker hit a 3-pointer, freshman guard Jason Bohannon had a layup and Joe Krabbenhoft hit a shot from the arc before another 3-pointer by Bohannon made it 60-40 with 12 1/2 minutes to go.

"There were a couple times in transition that they got some easy baskets on us," Ryan said. "They had a little streak there where they cut into the lead a little with those fast breaks.

"It's not that anybody let up, it's just that we didn't identify and cover our guys at that time. Once we got back to doing that, it made the 3-point shot tougher for them."

Making four of its first 10 attempts from the arc, Wisconsin-Green Bay went just 1-of-5 on 3-pointers following the intermission.

Flowers and Kammron Taylor scored 12 points apiece for Wisconsin, which shot 46 percent (26-of-56).

Ryan Evanochko had 19 points and Mike Schachtner added 14 for the Phoenix, who shot 37 percent (21-of-57).