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UW men's basketball: Butch struggles mightily in wake of Big Ten honor
INDIANAPOLIS — Brian Butch's first game since he found out he was a consensus first-team All-Big Ten choice was a consensus dud.
The 6-11 senior forward for the University of Wisconsin men's basketball team finished with a season-low one point after he missed all seven shots he took during the Badgers' 51-34 victory over Michigan in a Big Ten Conference tournament game Friday afternoon.
"Sometimes your shots drop sometimes they don't. You can't do anything about it," said Butch, whose poor night on offense and foul trouble limited him to just 16 minutes.
"I thought I made some good moves, I just didn't finish. I don't think I was forcing anything," he added.
UW coach Bo Ryan tried to put a positive spin on Butch's performance as the eighth-ranked Badgers (27-4), the No. 1 seed in this tournament, prepared to play fourth-seeded Michigan State (25-7) this afternoon.
"I don't want him obsessing because it was a rough game for him that way. But Brian did OK. He'll be back and ready to go," Ryan said.
Technically speaking: Ryan was berating Butch for an ill-advised shot in the first half when referee Steve Skiles whistled him for a technical foul because he thought Ryan was yelling at him.
"It was just a misinterpretation, I guess," said Ryan, who added playfully that he was just offering Butch some "helpful hints" when Skiles blew his whistle. "You know, Heloise does those helpful hints things," added Ryan. "I was just offering my helpful hints."
The technical served as a wake-up call for the Badgers. Their lead was cut to 15-13 after the free throws and a Zack Gibson 3-pointer. They responded with a 9-0 run and went on to grab a 26-18 halftime lead.
"When things like that happen in a game, your senses become a little more acute," said Ryan. "It's like, 'We're better than this, we're not finishing around the basket. Let's try to do a better job.' And our guys did a better job."
Play of the game: One of the few highlights of the defensive battle came when sophomore guard Jason Bohannon dropped a behind-the-back pass to Marcus Landry on a 2-on-1 break and Landry finished up with a dunk that gave Wisconsin a 35-23 lead with 14:34 left in the game.
"That made up for last week," said Bohannon, referring to his pass to Landry on an ill-advised alley-oop attempt against Northwestern. Landry never gained control of the ball and it led to a turnover.
This time, Bohannon said he made the only play he could make in that situation. "The guy was running right beside me and it would have been a hard bounce pass to throw around him, so I just kind of dropped it on the floor right behind me," he said.
Streak ends: Bohannon's school-record free throw streak ended when he missed his first attempt at the line Friday afternoon. His streak ended at 39 made attempts.
"It was kind of sad to see it go," said Bohannon, who finished with seven points. "It was a little short. I didn't get my legs into it at all. I tried to make it up on the next one (which he made). I didn't want to miss two in a row."
500-500: Junior forward Joe Krabbenhoft's seven rebounds were significant because it put him over 500 in his career at Wisconsin. He has 523 points and 502 rebounds in his career.
What mattered to Wisconsin's coaches at halftime Friday was Krabbenhoft's rebounding numbers against Michigan.
"As I was leaving the locker room at halftime coach (Gary) Close said, 'You don't have any offensive rebounds.' So I just tried to go out and get a couple," said Krabbenhoft, who got four offensive boards in the second half.
"I'm always trying to work my hardest to get the ball. Sometimes it goes my way, sometimes it doesn't. But I'm just going to continue to work like everybody else on this team."
Associated Press
Wisconsin's Brian Butch (left) was held to just one point Friday against DeShawn Sims and Michigan.
