Badgers Spoil Schrempf Retirement Party

While 22 was unveiled in the Alaska Airlines Arena rafters in honor of Detlef Schrempf on Saturday, Wisconsin did a number on the home team.

With basketball luminaries such as Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp, Sam Perkins and others gathered for a little nostalgia in a full house, the Badgers came in and spoiled the afternoon, leaving with a 90-73 victory.

The Huskies (14-15 overall, 6-12 Big Ten) needed Schrempf to pull on a shirt, not gaze up at his.

All of the excitement must have got to the current UW players because after scoring an opening basket on a one-handed Hannes Steinbach slam dunk, these guys crumbled in front of a veteran and talented Wisconsin team (20-9, 12-6).

"That was an embarrassment to Husky Nation," sophomore guard Zoom Diallo said. "We've got to do better."

Niko Dzepina fires up a 3-pointer against Wisconsin. | Dave Sizer photo

Nothing worked. Hardly anyone was focused for long. Few of these guys were going to get their jerseys in the rafters if this performance factored into it.

It was just a miserable performance for the home team, especially sophomore guard Wesley Yates III, who missed all but one of 17 shots, including 7 of 8 from behind the line.

Freshman forward Hannes Steinbach was his usual steady self with 22 points and 11 rebounds, for his 18th double-double, and Diallo came up with 21 points. But that was it.

"The way we played today is not how we should have represented him," Steinbach said of his fellow German player, with Schrempf providing him with a mentor.

Yet the Huskies absolutely got hammered by a sub, with senior guard Braeden Carrington, a one-time Tulsa transfer, coming off the bench for 32 points on 9-for-15 shooting from 3-point range. The Badgers hit 17 treys in all.

Someone should have retired this guy's number. He went stretches where he just didn't miss.

The Huskies played without sophomore forward Bryson Tucker (personal reason), senior center Franck Kepnang (sore leg) and senior forward Jacob Ognacevic (in a boot), with the latter getting hurt in Friday's practice.

UW coach Danny Sprinkle also started freshman guard Courtland Muldrew for the first time.

None of it mattered much.

Barely six minutes into the first half, the Badgers took an 11-point lead when senior guard Nick Boyd drove the basket and laid it in to make it 14-3.

A 20.2-point scorer coming in, the former San Diego State player, so quick and determined, had 8 points by that juncture. He would finish with 22.

Detlef Schrempf's No. 22 now hangs from the rafters with eight others, five for basketball. | Dave Sizer photo

At every pause in the action the famous players in the house were introduced to the crowd, with Payton noticeably sporting a gray beard. There wasn't much else to put a spotlight on.

At the four-minute mark. the Huskies were down by 15, when Boyd scored on another layin for a 29-14 advantage.

The 6-foot-3 guard from Garnerville, New York, closed out the first-half scoring when he pushed off a UW defender on the baseline and got away with it and dropped in a short jumper for a commanding 36-21 lead.

"He dominated our guards," Sprinkle said. "He did whatever he wanted."

Each seat had a Detlef Schrempf towel on it for his jersey retirement. | Dave Sizer photo

Next it was on to a halftime ceremony for Schrempf, with the former UW and Sonics standout standing in front of a gigantic yellow banner with his number on it.

"It's just amazing to see your name up there," he said. "It's kind of scary."

That's as good as it got for Husky basketball on this day, even though there was another half to play.

Freshman guard Courtland Muldrew, with coach Danny Sprinkle, drew his first UW start against Wisconsin. | Dave Sizer photo

Just over five minutes after the resumption of play, the Badgers were up 20 when Carrington, dropped in his fourth 3-pointer to that point, giving Wisconsin a 51-31 lead.

Things got only progressively worse. A lot worse.

While Schrempf stayed to the end on his big day, the crowd began leaving during a timeout with 7:32 left to play and the UW trailing by 26, down 71-45.

"If you want to play an individual sport, go play tennis or golf," Sprinkle said, citing a selfish attitude as a major drawback.

The Huskies are down to two regular-season games and just one outing to regroup, with the latter coming on Wednesday night against USC (18-10, 7-10), with a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.