CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands - In a bruising game full of trips to the free-throw line, No. 25 Wisconsin managed to keep its offense in a rhythm - even if it was a somewhat disjointed one.
Trevon Hughes had a game-high 21 points and Jason Bohannon added 13 points and six rebounds to help the Badgers beat Iona 60-58 on Friday in overtime at the Paradise Jam’s opening day.
“I’m extremely happy with the win,” Wisconsin coach Bo Ryan said. “(Our players) didn’t get scatterbrained. They stuck with what they needed to do.”
Ryan said his team effectively performed at the free-throw line. The Badgers were sent to the line 34 times, where they got 25 points.
“You’ve got to get to the line, and we did. When you get into these types of games that’s what you’ve got to do,” Ryan said.
Both teams ran the floor aggressively. The Badgers, who won the 2005 Paradise Jam in the school’s only previous appearance in the tournament, outrebounded Iona 38-30 and shot 40 percent from the floor during overtime while holding the Gaels to 25 percent.
Iona shot 41.2 percent from the field and held the Badgers to 31.3 percent during the game.
Iona coach Kevin Willard praised his team for pressing hard throughout the game.
“It was a hard-fought game. You play Wisconsin and you know you’re going to have a tough fight on your hands,” Willard said. “I thought our guys did a great job down the stretch, but you’re never happy with a loss.”
Willard said that any team will have a hard time notching a win when they send their opponents to the free-throw line as often as Iona did. The Badgers sent Iona to the line 15 times, where they shot 60 percent.
The matchup was the Badgers’ first meeting with Iona, which has lost five straight games against ranked opponents since beating then-No. 22 North Carolina 65-56 on Dec. 27, 2002.
Jonathan Huffman led Iona (1-1) with 15 points. Jermel Jenkins added 11 points for the Gaels.
“Iona is a very scrappy team and it was a tough game,” Wisconsin sophomore forward Tim Jarmusz said.
The Badgers advanced to the semifinals to face San Diego. Iona will play Valparaiso.
