Stat Pack: Badgers start season with easy win

MADISON, Wis. – The No. 9 Wisconsin Badgers opened their regular season with a 79-47 win over Central Arkansas at the Kohl Center on Friday night. BadgerBlitz.com’s Stat Pack from the game is included below.

-- The Badgers had five players score at least two points within before the first media timeout of the game, and seven players finished the game with at least six points. Senior point guard Bronson Koeing led all scorers with 16 points on 6 of 12 shooting from the floor.

-- How’s this for efficiency: Ethan Happ scored eight points in the game on 4-for-4 shooting from the floor. He also finished with nine rebounds, four assists, a block, and two steals in 23 minutes of playing time.

-- UW got 10 players in to the game in the first half alone, with forward Alex Illikainen and guard Jordan Hill the first two reserves called up off of the bench. In addition to starters Koenig, Zak Showalter, Vitto Brown, Nigel Hayes and Happ, the Badgers also got sophomore guard Khalil Iverson, sophomore forward Charles Thomas, and freshman guard D’Mitrik Trice at least two minutes of playing time each.

-- Brown was the only starter not to score any points in the game. The 6-foot-8 senior was 0-for-5 from the floor, but he did finish with three rebounds.

-- Trice made the most of his early playing time for the Badgers. The 6-foot point guard from Huber Heights, Ohio, hit his first two shots for the Badgers in the first half: back-to-back 3 pointers to help the Badgers extend their lead to 30-17 over Central Arkansas in the first half.

-- Iverson filled up the stat sheet pretty quickly in his nine minutes of playing time in the first half. The 6-foot-5 sophomore hit both of his shots from the floor for four total points in the first half, and had three rebounds and three blocks as well. He finished the game with 15 minutes played, second only to Illikainen in bench minutes.

-- The Badgers started the game cold from behind the arc. Including Trice’s two 3-pointers in the first half, Wisconsin made just 4 of 14 shots from distance in the first half (28.6 percent). They made up for it by making 10 of 14 shots inside the three-point line (71.4 percent), which helped them open up their 12-point halftime lead.

-- Hayes started the first half a little sluggish, hitting just 2 of 6 field goal attempts and going 0-for-3 from behind the arc to score just four points in the opening period. But Hayes made three of his four attempts in the second half (including two of three 3-pointers) to finish the game with 14 points.

-- The Badgers shot much better from behind the arc in the second half as a team, too. Including Hayes’ three-pointers the Badgers made 7 of 15 shots from behind the arc in the second half, and made 10 of 19 shots from distance after starting the game 1 for 10 from behind the arc. All in all the Badgers shot 46.7 percent from behind the arc in the second half, and 37.9 percent in the game as a whole.

-- Wisconsin’s offensive proficiency might be the story of the day, but as a team they turned in a pretty impressive defensive performance as well. The Badgers held Central Arkansas to just 28.3 percent shooting from the floor in the game as a whole, and 26.9 percent in the second half as they built their lead on their hot hands from behind the arc.

-- Don’t sleep on Jordan Hill as an offensive contributor. Hill had six points in the game for the Badgers, coming on 2-of-4 shooting from behind the arc.

-- Andy Van Vliet and Brevin Pritzl scored their first collegiate points for the Badgers after both reserves got in to the game after the under-5 timeout in the second half.