The No. 12/15 Wisconsin Badgers knocked down 12 three-pointers to propel them to an 88-64 home win over Bowling Green State University on Thursday night in the two teams’ first game of the 2013 Cancun Challenge at the Kohl Arena in Madison, Wis.
The loss drops BGSU to 1-2 on the season, while the win pushes Wisconsin to 5-0 on the year.
Wisconsin was 12-of-20 (60 percent) from behind the three-point line, while the Falcons were only 1-of-9 (.111) from long range.
The Badgers also held an advantage of 13 points at the free throw line, as Wisconsin was 20-of-29 (76.9 percent) compared to BGSU’s 7-of-14 (50 percent).
The Falcons were led by Spencer Parker’s career-high 17 points, all of which came in the second half, while guard Jehvon Clarke and center Cameron Black chipped in with 15 and 10 points apiece, respectively. Richaun Holmes hauled in a game-high eight rebounds, while guard Anthony Henderson came away with three steals in the loss.
For Wisconsin, six different players had double digit points headlined by Ben Brust’s game-high 19 points, while Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker followed up with 14 points each. Traevon Jackson added three steals to go along with his 13 points, while Josh Gasser had six rebounds and 11 points off the bench for the Badgers.
Bowling Green proved it was up to the challenge to start the contest, as Henderson hit a jumper from the left elbow to tie the score up at 2-2, while less than a minute later Black scored down low on a jump hook to put the score at 4-4 with 18:24 to go in the opening half.
Back-to-back layups from senior Craig Sealy, his first two points of the season, and Black gave the Falcons its first lead of the contest at 8-7 with 16:51 on the game clock.
However, the Badgers responded with a layup from Nigel Hayes to push the home team back out in front at 9-8, only to see the Falcons’ Clarke hit a jump shot from just inside the three-point line minutes later to knot the game back up at 12-12.
After a driving layup down the lane by Clarke put Bowling Green on top at 14-13, the two teams then went back-and-forth over the next several minutes until a step-back jump shot from the right wing from Holmes put the score at 20-20 with 10:05 to play before the break.
The Badgers would then heat up on the offensive end, while the Falcons cooled off offensively, as a three-pointer from Sam Dekker kick-started a 9-2 run to give the home team a 29-22 lead.
BGSU’s Black scored on another jump hook on the block to try to stop the Wisconsin run, however, the Badgers continued its hot-hand from long range to finish the half out on a 13-4 run to take a 44-28 lead into the halftime break.
After trading layups to open up the second half and put the score at 46-30, two three-pointers from Dekker and Brust over the next four minutes to push its lead out to 23 at 53.30 with 16:30 to play.
Bowling Green refused to quit, as a layup by Clarke and seven straight points from Parker kept the Falcons in the game and within striking distance as the visitors attempted to claw its way back.
The Badgers continued to shoot the ball well from the floor to hold on to a 24 point lead at 63-39 when the Falcons went to the full court press which caused several Wisconsin turnovers and some easy baskets for BGSU.
BG got a three-pointer from Henderson from the right wing, and then picked up two steals over the next several minutes which led to an 8-4 run by the Falcons who got to within 14 points at 67-53 on back-to-back free throws from Holmes with 9:12 to go in the game.
Free throws and more three-point baskets over the final nine minutes of the contest, allowed the Badgers to extend its lead back out to 24 twice en route to the 88-64 home win.
BGSU outscored the Badgers 42-30 in points in the paint and 8-2 in fast break points.
However, Wisconsin shot 28-of-51 (54.9 percent) from the field overall, while BG was 28-of-63 (44.4 percent) for the contest.
Bowling Green (1-2) will continue its four-game Cancun Challenge road trip on Saturday, Nov. 23, as the Falcons will take on St. Louis at 8 p.m.
