Settling for 2nd: UConn trips up Wisconsin in championship
November 25, 2008 | Men's Basketball
November 24, 2008
ST. THOMAS, Virgin Islands The Badgers'' string of four consecutive wins came to an abrupt end Monday night with a 76-57 loss to No. 2-ranked Connecticut in the championship game of the Paradise Jam Tournament. No. 19 Wisconsin (4-1) couldn't overcome a swarming UConn (5-0) press which frustrated UW''s offense and forced 22 turnovers. Overall, the Badgers earned a second-place finish at the tournament after beating Iona and San Diego to advance to the championship game.
Junior Trevon Hughes, who scored nine points vs. UConn, finished the tournament averaging 17.3 points per game en route to a spot on the all-tournament team. He was joined on the squad by UConn ''s Jerome Dyson and Kemba Walker, Miami''s Jack McClinton and Southern Mississippi''s Jeremy Wise. Connecticut junior Hasheem Thabeet earned tournament MVP honors.
In the early stages it was difficult to tell which team was a preseason favorite to compete for the national championship as Wisconsin steadily built a lead. Eight minutes into the game the Badgers were shooting at a 70-percent clip and had a pair of 3-point baskets from Jason Bohannon. Wisconsin''s lead would climb to 24-19 on a 3-pointer from sophomore Tim Jarmusz with 8:29 left in the first half. That was the moment when the Huskies press started to strangle UW''s ball handlers.
Wisconsin committed seven of their 11 first-half turnovers in the final 8:00 of the first half as it watched UConn close the stanza on a 19-4 run. A dozen of those points came off UW turnovers as the Huskies enjoyed a 38-28 halftime lead.
Led by sophomore Keaton Nankivil''s team-high 11 points, Wisconsin refused to go away quietly. Much like they started the game, the Badgers out-played UConn early in the second half, drawing within two at 45-43 on a Joe Krabbenhoft free throw with 13:24 remaining. The Huskies would then score the next seven points and never look back.
When the dust had settled Wisconsin was outscored by a 31-14 margin on points off turnovers and by a 36-16 margin on points in the paint. UW held heralded junior Hasheem Thabeet to just nine points and seven rebounds, but Jerome Dyson made up for it with a game-high 21 points.
The Badgers will return home Tuesday and take on UW-Milwaukee at the Kohl Center on Saturday, Nov. 29th. Tip-off is slated for 11 a.m.
Comprehensive Post-Game Coverage:
- Final Statistics (pdf)
