CHARLOTTE AMALIE, U.S. Virgin Islands – Trevon Hughes had 22 points as No. 25 Wisconsin dictated its preferred deliberate pace throughout and defeated USD 64-49 yesterday in the Paradise Jam basketball tournament.

The Badgers (4-0) will face No. 2 Connecticut, a 76-63 winner over Miami, in the championship game of the eight-team tournament today at 5:30 p.m. PST. USD (2-2) faces No. 17 Miami (2-1) in the third-place game at 3 p.m.

Brandon Johnson led USD with 19 points on 5-for-8 shooting from three-point range. Gyno Pomare, who made his first start of the season, had 10 points and three rebounds for the Toreros.

“Wisconsin is the kind of team that doesn't make many mistakes, and they make you pay for every mistake you make,” USD coach Bill Grier said. “I knew coming in we would play hard enough to compete against them, but I didn't know if we would play smart enough.

“We had some untimely turnovers when we were only a basket or two away from taking the lead, and we missed a lot of shots in the paint from 10 feet, and . . . you have to make (those) against teams like Wisconsin.

“They do a good job of body-bumping you around the basket and we didn't handle it . . . as well as we should have.”

Wisconsin shot 48.8 percent, while holding the Toreros to 34.5 percent, and had a 22-16 advantage in points in the paint. The Badgers also had a 20-11 advantage in points off turnovers.

Johnson, showing no ill effects of a scratched cornea suffered in Friday's opening-round victory over Valparaiso, scored seven of USD's first nine points as the Toreros took a 9-6 lead. But Wisconsin scored the next eight straight to gain control 26-20 at the half and kept the Toreros at bay through the final 20 minutes.

USD sophomore forward Rob Jones picked up two fouls seconds apart and played only four minutes in the first half and 13 for the game. He was limited to four points and two rebounds.

“He got two fouls and as a coach you think you've got to take him out because you don't want him to pick up a third in the first half,” Grier said. “As a player, when that happens and you have to sit for a long time it can take away your moment and bother you mentally. He has to deal with it better than he did. Hopefully he'll learn from it.”

In the first semifinal, Hasheem Thabeet had 19 points and 14 rebounds, and A.J. Price added 13 points and 11 rebounds in No.2 Connecticut's victory over No. 18 Miami.

Jack McClinton had 27 points for the Hurricanes, and Dwayne Collins added 16 points and 14 rebounds.