Wisconsin continues dominance over Panthers with strong offense

MADISON, Wis. -- Joe Krabbenhoft said the Badgers weren't content with a 10-point lead at halftime and wanted to make sure it wasn't even a game in the second half.

Not a problem.

Krabbenhoft scored 12 points and grabbed 10 rebounds, while Trevon Hughes added 16 points as Wisconsin (No. 19 ESPN/USA Today, No. 25 AP) beat Wisconsin-Milwaukee 67-46 on Saturday.

"We just did a great job of playing Wisconsin basketball," Krabbenhoft said of the opening minutes in the second half.

This one was a lot like most games between the Badgers (5-1) and Panthers (3-4).

Wisconsin is 24-1 overall against the Panthers and has outscored Wisconsin-Milwaukee by more than 15 points a game under coach Bo Ryan, who coached the Panthers for two seasons before coming to Madison.

It didn't help the Panthers that they were without senior guard Ricky Franklin, who was suspended for the game after he was arrested early Thursday morning for operating while intoxicated. Wisconsin-Milwaukee coach Rob Jeter said Franklin, a starter averaging 11.3 points and 4.5 rebounds, would be out of the lineup indefinitely.

The Panthers had some success early when they tried to beat defenders off the dribble one-on-one. But when they started settling for contested 3-pointers and awkward shots off the drive, they began to fade.

After a pair of free throws from Tone Boyle made it 24-23 with just less than 6 minutes left in the half, the Badgers clamped down. Wisconsin reeled off a 13-4 run to go into halftime with its first double-digit lead at 37-27.

Wisconsin then went on a 15-3 run over the first 10 minutes of the second half, and the rout was on.

Tony Meier and Deonte Roberts each scored 11 points to lead the Panthers, who shot less than 36 percent for the game. That included 4-of-19 from 3-point range.

"Their defense made us shoot over the top, and the percentages say when you have to shoot some of those in-between shots, you're not going to make a lot of them when they're challenged and contested, and they were," said Jeter, who played for Ryan at Wisconsin-Platteville and then spent 10 years as an assistant coach under him at three different schools.

The Badgers, meanwhile, were a model of efficiency.

Wisconsin was plagued by 22 turnovers in its first loss this week against No. 2 Connecticut in the Paradise Jam Tournament in the Virgin Islands. But the Badgers gave up the ball just six times Saturday while dishing out 13 assists.

Ryan acknowledged the Panthers weren't on par with the second-ranked Huskies. Still, he said the Badgers took better care of the ball Saturday, and he expects Virginia Tech to test the Badgers on Monday in the ACC-Big Ten Challenge.

"You don't have to be playing a team that puts a lot of pressure on you to make turnovers. You can do that simply by not paying attention to minute details," Ryan said. "I thought our guys did a very good job of that, making good feeds, making good decisions, tough to ball, tougher with the ball."

Marcus Landry also scored in double digits for the Badgers with 12 points.