After 7-0 Start, Lions Get Badgered : College basketball: No. 20 Wisconsin pulls away from Loyola behind Finley and Griffith, 75-60.

The final score didn’t fool Wisconsin Coach Stan Van Gundy, who still is waiting for his team to put a good game together.

“It’s going to all come together one night and we’re going to look great,” he said Friday night after the 20th-ranked Badgers defeated Loyola Marymount, 75-60.

Michael Finley had 17 points to move into second place on the school’s career scoring list, and Wisconsin won despite spotting Loyola a 7-0 lead.

The Badgers (6-1) also got 16 points and 15 rebounds from Rashard Griffith before he fouled out with just under four minutes remaining.

“Mike’s going to be dropping shots and Rashard’s not going to be in foul trouble and those other guys are going to keep playing hard and we’re going to be awfully tough to beat,” Van Gundy said.

Loyola (6-2) was led by Mike O’Quinn with 17 points and Ime Oduok with 16. The Lions, held to season-low point total, shot 34% from the field (23 of 67).

Finley moved up to No. 2 on the scoring list with 1,752 points. He passed Rick Olson (1,736) and Claude Gregory (1,745) and now trails Danny Jones (1,854).

“On the road for the first time, I didn’t think we executed well offensively tonight.” Loyola Coach John Olive said. “I’m sure some of that was their defense, but I’d like to think we can execute a little better on offense than that.”

The Lions had 22 turnovers.

After Loyola Marymount took the 7-0 lead, Wisconsin came back behind Griffith and freshman Sean Mason, who finished with 14 points, to make it 39-29 at halftime.

Mason didn’t play in the previous game against Wisconsin Milwaukee because Van Gundy didn’t think he was working hard enough in practice.

“I don’t know if he responded to the message (his benching) or to the opportunity,” Van Gundy said. “He obviously tried to step up his effort in practice and that’s why we gave him the opportunity to play. He stepped up in a big way.”

Mason sounded like a player who got the message.

“I told myself I had to work as hard as I can,” said Mason, who got additional playing time because starting guard Andy Kilbride sprained an ankle in practice Thursday.

“With Andy hurt I knew I had a chance to get some more playing time and I wanted to make the most of it,” Mason said.

Griffith scored 10 points and grabbed 10 rebounds in the first half.

Mason came off the bench to provide nine points in the half.

Loyola Marymount pulled to 54-49 midway through the second half, but Wisconsin responded by going on a 12-2 run to make it 66-51.

Loyola, with only nine players in uniform, got eight points and 11 rebounds from bench. Wisconsin’s bench had 26 points and 17 rebounds.