No. 14 Wisconsin 69, Wofford 33

No. 14 Wisconsin 69, Wofford 33

Published Nov. 20, 2011 4:32 a.m. ET

Josh Gasser thinks his accurate shooting this season is a byproduct of his teammates shooting well, too.

Apparently, he's also not fazed when the rest of the Badgers struggle a little.

Gasser scored 16 points, hitting all four of his 3-pointers, as No. 14 Wisconsin beat Wofford 69-33 on Saturday night.

''A lot of guys are knocking down shots. It leaves guys open,'' Gasser said. ''I found myself open a couple of times and just knocked them down.''

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That's nothing new for Gasser. He is 9 of 10 from 3-point range on the season. But it didn't come so easily for the rest of the Badgers (3-0).

Wisconsin came in shooting 52 percent from 3-point range, but they often settled for outside shots early against Wofford (1-2). Going 2 of 9 from behind the arc to start the game, the Badgers led just 13-10 midway through the first half before starting to play more of an inside-outside game and beginning to pull away.

Gasser hit a 3-pointer to start a 19-2 run that closed the half, and Rob Wilson capped the spurt with another 3. But things started clicking when the Badgers began to do some more damage from the lane.

Drew Crowell's layup just before the buzzer finally ended the scoring drought for the Terriers.

''That zero is what I like seeing,'' Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said of the run that was ended by Crowell's layup. ''Our offense was generating from the defense.''

Kevin Giltner hit a 3 early in the second half that cut Wisconsin's lead to 19, but the Terriers couldn't get any closer.

Giltner and Karl Cochran scored 10 points apiece to lead Wofford, which shot only 20 percent from the field in the first half.

Like the Badgers, Wofford struggled early from 3-point range. But the Terriers never found their stroke, shooting just 26 percent for the game, including 4 of 19 from 3-point range. Leading scorer Brad Loesing was 2 for 11, and the Terriers also couldn't match up inside.

Crowell, who started Wofford's first two games at forward, has been sick and came off the bench. He ended up with five points, half his season average, and the Terriers were outrebounded 43-22. Wofford also was outscored in the paint 34-12.

Wofford coach Mike Young said he told his players they'd get some great shots against Wisconsin, but they'd likely only get one per possession - and they didn't take advantage of it.

He also said the Badgers simply wore down his young squad, which lost four starters from a team that won the Southern Conference championship last season and reached the NCAA tournament.

''It's such a grind, such a grind playing the Badgers,'' Young said. ''To be frank, we're just not quite ready to do that with this young bunch.''

The Badgers eventually found their shooting stroke from outside, finishing a respectable 9 of 23 on 3s.

Jared Berggren, despite going 1 for 5 from 3-point range, scored 13 points for Wisconsin. Ryan Evans also had 13.

It was a quiet game point-wise for Wisconsin point guard Jordan Taylor. He ranked fourth in the Big Ten last season with 18 points a game, but he scored four points on 2-of-3 shooting to go along with four rebounds, four assists and zero turnovers. He has scored just 24 points in the Badgers' first three games.

But Evans said it was just Jordan trying to make everyone around him better early in the season.

''He's just playing real team ball right now,'' Evans said. ''We know what he can do and what he'll need to do eventually down the line.''

The teams were paired in the first round of the Chicago Invitational Challenge, which includes a second game for each before they head to Hoffman Estates, Ill., next weekend for two games.

Before the game, Wisconsin announced that freshman forward Jarrod Uthoff will redshirt this season.

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