Andrew Bogut bested Al Jefferson inside with 17 points and 10 rebounds, Luke Ridnour had 16 points off the bench and the Milwaukee Bucks used a second-half surge to top the Minnesota Timberwolves 87-72 on Friday night.

Rookie Brandon Jennings had his first clunker for the Bucks, putting up nine points on 4 for 16 shooting, but his backup Ridnour helped counter a career-high 20 points by Timberwolves rookie Jonny Flynn.

Milwaukee outscored Minnesota 31-14 in the third quarter.

Jefferson, still trying to find his groove after a knee injury knocked him out last winter, went 3 for 12 from the floor and finished with a season-low nine points.

Instead of a flashy duel between Flynn and Jennings on the ball, Bogut and Jefferson banged around underneath _ and the shaggy-haired Aussie got the better of it. Fellow Australian Nathan Jawai guarded Bogut for a bit, too, but the 7-foot former first overall draft pick threw down a couple of vicious dunks and shot 8 for 14 to command the lane.

Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis stressed before the game the need to get the ball inside against the Bucks, who've struggled to find productivity at the power forward spot next to Bogut, who is returning to form after a lower back injury cost him half of last season.

Hakeem Warrick and Dan Gadzuric were productive for Milwaukee, though, and Minnesota too often settled for jump shots.

The Wolves were able to take a 38-33 lead into the locker room at halftime despite shooting 5 for 18 in the second quarter. During the dreadful third, they went 6 for 18, and the 14 points were a season low for any period. Continued...