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Tucker, Wisconsin have little trouble with Southern

Nov 20, 2006 - 12:27 AM MADISON, Wisconsin (Ticker) -- Alando Tucker and Wisconsin showed that they are going to be all about business at this holiday tournament.

Tucker scored 16 points and Brian Butch added 12 as the ninth-ranked Badgers used a rugged effort to roll over Southern, 92-39, in the opening round of the South Padre Invitational.

An event that spans Thanksgiving, this tournament was won last year by Illinois, which had reached the national championship game the previous season. Wisconsin (3-0) looked to show the same type of championship mettle, turning up the defensive pressure against the Jaguars (0-2).

Holding Southern to 36 percent (15-of-42) shooting and 26 turnovers, Wisconsin raced out to a big lead and never looked back. Leading, 50-19, at the half, the Badgers pushed the lead to 50 points on a pair of free throws by Butch with 9:17 to play.

The Badgers finished with 37 points off the giveaways by the Jaguars.

"They were young and some of the decisions they made obviously helped us," Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said about his opponent's turnovers. "But again, it wasn't because we were doing things that we don't normally do defensively. We weren't getting out of our ball coverage and our rotations."

A sizzling 69 percent (18-of-26) shooting effort in the first half led to the 31-point lead for the Badgers, who did not let afterward, taking a 57-point advantage with just 2:27 left.

"I thought that we stayed true to the game," Ryan said. "When you get a lead like that, a lot of times you get bad habits and you do things that take away from what you've been working on. The thing that I like is that we didn't jack up a lot of threes. We moved the ball and we were patient, especially in the second half."

Tucker shot 5-of-9 from the field and Michael Flowers hit three shots, including his lone 3-point attempt, en route to 11 points for Wisconsin, which shot 62 percent (33-of-53).

Kammron Taylor, Jason Chappell, Kevin Gullikson and Trevon Hughes all had eight points for the Badgers, who will face Delaware State in the second round of this event on Monday.

Jazz Williams was the lone player in double figures for the Jaguars, who shot 36 percent (15-of-42) and were outrebounded, 33-21.

"I am a little disappointed in our team," Southern coach Rob Spivery said. "I didn't think they competed as tough as they should have. It's disappointing to travel the distance we did and not be able to accomplish anything or even compete. I would just like to see our guys compete a little harder."