MILWAUKEE (AP) — Tyler Wahl scored 17 points as Wisconsin defeated Stanford 60-50 on Friday night at American Family Field, the home of Major League Baseball’s Milwaukee Brewers.
Jordan Davis had a career-high 13 points and Chucky Hepburn added 11 to help Wisconsin (2-0) win the first college basketball game at a baseball-only facility since a 2015 matchup between San Diego and San Diego State at Petco Park, the home of the San Diego Padres.
Badgers coach Greg Gard had tried for many years to schedule a game at the Brewers’ stadium, located about 80 miles east of Wisconsin’s campus. Billed as the “Brew City Battle,” Friday’s event was part of a doubleheader that started with a women’s basketball game that Kansas State won 77-63 over Wisconsin.
American Family Field has a retractable roof that was closed for Friday’s games. The event had an announced attendance of 17,927 and included a combination of University of Wisconsin and Milwaukee Brewers traditions.
One timeout featured a version of the sausage race that happens in the seventh inning of Brewers home games. Another timeout had Wisconsin fans jumping along to House of Pain’s “Jump Around,” the same way they do back on campus.
The stadium was reconfigured for basketball by removing the pitcher’s mound and placing the court on the infield. About 400 bleacher seats were placed courtside, there were a few rows of chairs behind each basket and fans also filled portions of the stadium’s permanent stands.
As for the game, Steven Crowl had nine points and 11 rebounds for Wisconsin, which relied on its defense to lead most of the way. Brandon Angel scored 14 points to lead Stanford (1-1), which shot just 1 of 16 from 3-point range.
Wisconsin led 32-20 after a first half in which Stanford missed all nine of its 3-point attempts and had nearly twice as many turnovers (12) as baskets (7). Wisconsin had an 18-2 edge in points off turnovers in the first half.
Stanford cut Wisconsin’s lead to 45-40 with 8:22 left but shot just 2 of 11 from the floor the rest of the way.
Michael Jones had nine points for the Cardinal three nights after the Davidson transfer had a career-high 31 in his Stanford debut. Maxime Raynaud, who scored 22 against Pacific, had just three points Friday.
Spencer Jones, who led Stanford in scoring last season, had eight points Friday after an injury kept him out of the Pacific game.
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