Wisconsin Upsets No. 17 Temple

Wisconsin coach Dick Bennett knew he wasn't seeing No. 17 Temple at its best. He wasn't complaining.

The undermanned Owls, playing without two of their best players in Pepe Sanchez and Mark Karcher, were shut down by the Badgers 62-44 on Wednesday night.

"In all fairness to Temple, if they have their whole team it's a different ballgame," Bennett said. "I'm fully aware of how fortunate we were to play them when they were only at half-strength.

"But we did do what we had to do. So, with the asterisk noted, I'm very pleased with our effort."

Temple (6-3) never really got untracked as the Owls shot just 27.1 percent from the field and were held to their lowest point total since a 59-35 loss to Massachusetts in 1996. Temple's previous low this season was 59 points against Indiana.

Quincy Wadley led the Owls with a career-high 25 points, and backcourtmate Lynn Greer added 15. But Temple's starting frontcourt of Lamont Barnes, Keaton Sanders and Ron Rollerson was held scoreless.

"That was our mission, to stop them inside," Wisconsin forward Charlie Wills said. "To hold them scoreless, that's awesome because that was our strategy."

The Owls have been without Sanchez, their point guard, since he sprained an ankle in the season opener. Karcher, their No. 2 scorer with a 16.2 average, sprained his left shoulder Monday against Cleveland State.

In their absence, Bennett said the key for his team would be to neutralize Temple's height advantage.

"I really believed this game would be won y the team that won the battle of the baseline," Bennett said. "We felt if they were able to operate inside against us, then they were going to whip us because they're considerably stronger than us there. So we made it more of a perimeter game and we had a chance in that kind of game."

The Badgers took a season-high 24 3-point shots and made nine, also a season high. Jon Bryant made four 3-pointers to lead Wisconsin with 12 points. Wills added 11 points and Andy Kowske 10.

"We gave it the best effort we could," Temple coach John Chaney said. "Wisconsin played a great game and their defensive scheme really gave us a lot of trouble."

Wisconsin has a 4-1 record in the past five seasons against Temple in a matchup of two famed defensive coaches. While Chaney is a proponent of the zone defense, he didn't try to hide his admiration of Wisconsin's stifling man-to-man.

"Dick Bennett is a great, fundamentally sound coach," Chaney said. "They shut us down and that's what sound, basic, good coaching will do.

"I don't rate teams, I rate coaches. Kids come and go, but what I look for is a common fiber that runs through all teams. With Wisconsin, I don't care how many players you get, you will see Dick Bennett in those players. It's like the same guys with different names.

"You can see a good coach in the deeds of his players. His signature is fundamental, good defense."

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