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Highlights | Full Broadcast | Badgers Down Under
MELBOURNE, Australia – Wisconsin suffered its first loss Down Under on Sunday after a 90-89 setback against Melbourne United. The Badgers fell to 3-1 on their foreign tour, which has one game remaining on Tuesday against the Sydney Kings.
A steal from
Ethan Happ and a breakaway dunk by
Khalil Iverson gave the Badgers an 89-85 lead with 46.9 seconds remaining. But, Melbourne answered with a quick basket and forced a shot clock violation to regain possession with just over 14 seconds on the clock. A corner 3-pointer from Jerry Evans put Melbourne ahead, and moments later Evans iced the win by blocking
Brevin Pritzl's would be game-winner from behind the arc.
"We were in situations throughout the game that we haven't been in," head coach
Greg Gard explained. "End of game and quarter situations, foul trouble we had to deal with. We did a lot of learning, which is exactly why you come on trips like this, to put yourself in some adverse situations and see how guys react on the fly.
"I think this will be monumental for us in terms of growing. There were things that we talked about from the previous games that came to play in this game. We'll benefit from this."
Sophomore
D'Mitrik Trice led Wisconsin with 19 points, going 4-for-6 from 3-point range, with five rebounds and four assists. For the second-consecutive game, freshman
Kobe King registered 18 points, hitting both of his attempts from beyond the arc. Junior
Ethan Happ chipped in 14 points, while junior
Andy Van Vliet rounded out UW's double-digit scorers with 11 points.
"You have to learn from wins and losses," Happ said of the game that featured six ties and 12 lead changes. "The biggest thing is, we need to slow down when they're making their run. We need to slow down on both ends where we need to hone in and get a stop or we need to hone in and get a bucket at the rim. We need to play inside-out down the stretch and make more plays."
The Badgers shot 60.0 percent from 3-point range, connecting on 12-of-20 from deep, but Melbourne was nearly just as good, hitting 12-of-24. The United was also up to the task at the free throw line, sinking 20-of-22, while UW was 15-for-20 with zero attempts in the pivotal fourth quarter.
"This was similar to the Big Ten season," Happ said. "The referees let a lot of stuff go and these are grown men. I think it's a little more physical over here than during the Big Ten, but it's just something we've got to play through."
Before returning home, Wisconsin will have one final test when it takes on the Sydney Kings on Tuesday, Aug. 22. Tipoff is set for 7:30 p.m. in Sydney (4:30 a.m. CT) at Bankstown Basketball Stadium. A live video steam
can be viewed here.
