Wisconsin Wisconsin/Temple Temple Men's College Basketball recap on ESPN

The Badgers (No. 17 ESPN/USA Today, No. 16 Associated Press) shredded Temple's matchup zone with 14 3-pointers Thursday night and senior point guard Mike Kelley took over down the stretch in a 66-58 victory.

The loss was the sixth straight for the Owls, the longest losing streak in Chaney's 19 seasons at Temple.

"We were prepared well for the zone," sophomore Ricky Bower said after going 6-for-11 from beyond the arc for a career-high 19 points. "As a shooter, you know you'll get a lot of open shots."

Wisconsin (6-1) went 14-for-28 on 3s, and even during the game the questions could be heard as to whether it's time for Chaney to abandon the matchup zone that has become his trademark.

"I've played man, zone, triangle-and-2. I've done it all," said Chaney, whose longest previous losing streak at Temple was five in 1982-83, his first season with the Owls. "It has nothing to do with it. They run good stuff and they put shooters on the floor. Kids today can make 3s, I don't care whether you play man or zone. My zone has worked for 35 years and it still works when they know what they're doing."

Kelley scored seven of his nine points in a late 9-0 run that gave the Badgers their sixth straight win and snapped Temple's 24-game winning streak at The Liacouras Center. Temple's last loss in its on-campus building came on Dec. 9, 1998, a 63-56 defeat to Wisconsin.

"This brings back good feelings because it's a very tough place to play," Kelley said. "The experience helps in a lot of ways and down the stretch it shows. I was in Ricky's ear all game telling him to shoot as I was in the other guys' ears too."

Alex Wesby scored on a drive with 5:01 left to bring Temple (4-6) into a 53-53 tie. Kelley, who averages 7.0 points and 5.2 assists per game, then made two free throws with 4:27 left to give the Badgers the lead for good.

Mark Vershaw added two more free throws for Wisconsin before Kelley followed a turnover by Temple with his only 3-pointer of the game and the Badgers' 14th, one shy of the school record. Kelley closed the run with two free throws with 1:38 left that made it 62-53, and the Owls were never closer than six the rest of the way.

"Mike's been through everything a college player can go through," interim head coach Brad Soderberg said of Kelley, who also had seven assists. "Mike is one of those guys you can't take out of the lineup. We need him on the floor and he's done that for four straight years."

Roy Boone of Wisconsin had 15 points, all on 3s.

"It's tough when they hit 3s with five seconds left on the shot clock," Temple guard Lynn Greer said. "We played tough defense for 30 seconds and then they hit the 3. It really hurts."

Greer, 3-for-17 from the field in Temple's last game, had 16 points on 5-for-14 shooting against Wisconsin. Freshman Ron Blackshear added 15 points for Temple, including 12 of the Owls' final 18. He was 4-for-7 from 3-point range, and Temple finished 9-for-25.

"I didn't know enough about him," Soderberg said of Blackshear, who came in with a total of 19 points. "Our players weren't to blame as I was at fault for not scouting him as well as I should have."

The last time Temple lost this many consecutive games was the 1975-76 season, when it lost 11 straight. This losing streak includes two losses to No. 1 Duke and road games to Miami of Ohio, Villanova and Penn State. Next up is No. 6 Wake Forest on Dec. 21.

"Now we'll have to look forward to Wake Forest coming in and putting a whipping on us, but that's my fault," Chaney said. "I could have scheduled Ramapo or Little Sisters of the Poor, but I schedule the tough teams and I'll continue to do that as long as I'm here.

"We've been through this before, maybe not losing this many, but if we stay healthy we'll be all right. You win now for next year."

The Badgers are 4-0 under Soderberg. He replaced Dick Bennett, who retired suddenly after the third game of the season citing mental and physical exhaustion.

"Coach did a great job preparing us for the zone, and then we made some adjustments, and again that credit goes to Coach," Kelley said.

ALSO SEE
Men's College Basketball Scoreboard

Wisconsin Clubhouse

Temple Clubhouse

AUDIO/VIDEO
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The Badgers knock down a flurry of three-pointers in the first half.
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David Hawkins throws down the two-handed jam.
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Temple's Ronald Rollerson tips in the missed shot.
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