Madison — A few hundred students, noise at a soft murmur and a result that was academic.

Save the occasional boom of the bass drum, you could almost forgive someone for thinking for a second they were at College Library studying agriculture instead of the Kohl Center watching the Badgers plow Bemidji State’s Beavers 90-54.

And, when you think about it, that’s probably about what Bo Ryan wanted. Even if he won’t come out and say it.

“The perfect game hasn’t been played yet, and it won’t here,” Ryan said. “But it’s all about your attitude about taking what did occur and trying to get better at it, or if you did something well, to keep going to that.”

No. 25 Syracuse was dumped the night before by Division II Le Moyne in an exhibition. Unlike that game, there were no nervous moments in the second half here. In fact, there were no nervous moments at all; guards Jason Bohannon and Rob Wilson each scored 10 points in the first half and Bohannon added five assists to ensure that.

After UW scored 12 of the first 16 points to take a 12-4 lead just more than four minutes in, the last 35 minutes provided ample time for Bo to see what he’s got.

The nine players that will probably end up as the Badgers’ regular playing rotation played the first half and built a 46-22 lead.

“Once we got going, got in the flow of everything, I thought our team did a very good job,” Bohannon said. “We did a good job of getting the ball in the post and rotating the ball … I think that shows our team doing a lot of the right things this year, and hopefully that continues.”

Redshirt freshman forward Jared Berggren worked on perfecting his Brian Butch impression by displaying a knack for pivoting and opting to lay the ball in from close range instead of dunking it.

Wilson finished with 12 points and four rebounds in 15 minutes and looked more confident than he ever did last year.

It looks like it will take some time, however, for forward Ryan Evans to get his shot in order. The redshirt freshman is insanely athletic, as evidenced by five blocked shots and his first-half throw down. But he’s got a rec center jumper and a shaky stroke from the free throw line right now. He didn’t make a basket he didn’t dunk or lay in and went 4 of 8 from the charity stripe showing a less-than-confident stroke.

Listen to his coach talk, though, and you expect that will improve.

“All Ryan Evans ever said was, ‘Man, I’d love a chance to play at Wisconsin, I think I can do it,’” Ryan said. “So he’s trying to prove it. Coaching that kind of guy is so much fun. I just hope he keeps getting better.”

The second half saw Bo empty his bench, and gave fans a look at another player who might break into the playing rotation, freshman Mike Bruesewitz. And, if as some people have predicted, Bruesewitz is Krabbenhoft Lite, he did a good job of playing the part. His first time in front of the Kohl Center crowd, “Bruiser” scrapped on defense and missed four layups.

But just like the Beavers, who had an 8-hour overnight bus ride back to Bemidji, there’s a long road ahead of the Badgers. Wednesday’s exhibition win was just the first step.