Wisconsin's Vito Brown, left, pulls a defensive rebound away from UT-Chattanooga's Casey Jones during the first half of the Mocs' 89-45 loss to the No. 3 Badgers on Sunday in Madison, Wis.The law of averages.
The University of Tennessee at Chattanooga men's basketball team was forced to play them in their matchup against No. 3 Wisconsin on Sunday, and the results swung back in the Badgers' favor.
Two days after shooting below 50 percent in a 62-31 defeat of Northern Kentucky, the Badgers were much more efficient in their game against the Mocs, winning 89-45 in front of 17,279 fans at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin (2-0) hit five of their first six 3-point attempts in building a 32-11 lead early. They lead 52-21 at the half, shooting 58 percent (18-for-31) from the field. Sam Dekker led the Badgers with 18 points, while Traevon Jackson had 16. Nigel Hayes and Frank Kaminsky had 15 each, while leading the team with 13 and 10 rebounds, respectively.
The Badgers dominated the paint. They held a 49-21 rebounding edge on the boards, and limited the Mocs to three offensive rebounds -- one of the team's strengths. UTC also had zero fast-break points, and shot 32 percent from the field, 27 percent from 3-point range and missed seven of their 10 free-throw attempts.
UTC head coach Will Wade saw plenty to be pleased about postgame.
"We played pretty well," Wade said on the postgame radio broadcast. "I give our guys credit because we competed the entire game. The guys executed our scouting report very well. When you play a team of their caliber, they're going to shoot the ball that well and hit that many 3s.
"There's some give-and-take when you're in this sort of game, and that's what we were willing to give up. Normally we're all over the 3-pointer; they knocked them down today and did a great job, and they are one of the two or three best teams in the country -- if not the best team."
Ronrico White led the Mocs (1-1) with 15 points. Justin Tuoyo had a solid game, with 11 points and three blocks, while Casey Jones had 12 points.
"I have a ton of respect for (Wisconsin) and their program, but I thought our guys played hard," Wade said. "I told the team in the locker room that I feel better about us after this one than I do after Hiwassee; we played a high-level team and did some good things.
"I wish they wouldn't have got off to such a fast start shooting the ball so we could have hung in there a little longer, but that's what happens."
The Mocs finish the travel portion of the Battle 4 Atlantis on Tuesday, when they travel to Indianapolis to face Big East opponent Butler at 9 p.m. The game will be available on Fox Sports Two.