Despite shooting 36.8% and turning the ball over 21 times, the Bucks were able to outlast the offensively challenged Bobcats down the stretch for a 79-74 victory.

And a road victory at that.

"This game set the game of Basketball back a ways," said Bucks coach Scott Skiles, who was able to laugh about it afterward when the victory was securely tucked away in the books. "That's for sure.

"It's just one of those games. . . . all the turnovers and the poor shooting percentage and we were able to win. These kind of wins add up at the end of the year when you look back. We teetered a little bit but were able to make big enough plays. . . . we played good enough to win."

Forward Richard Jefferson gazed at the box score in disbelief afterward.

"I've never been a part of anything like that," said Jefferson, who scored 15 points. "Shooting that type of percentage and having that many turnovers and getting a win. It's very impressive. We're not ashamed to say we're surprising ourselves right now. . . . to focus on our defense and those kind of things and see what we can accomplish."

The bottom line showed that the Bucks won the game at the foul line, where they made 24 of 31 (77.4%) compared to 13 of 22 (59.1%) for Charlotte. Ramon Sessions, who played the entire second half after Luke Ridnour took a seat with a sore knee, made all 10 of his foul shots and was high-point man for the Bucks with 18. Charlie Villanueva made all eight of his free throws and scored 15 points. With Andrew Bogut grabbing 17 rebounds, the Bucks again won the battle of the glass.

Skiles said that he was searching for offense all night.

"But we were trying to keep it simple," he said. "We felt like early in the game we were so uncertain with the ball. We were kind of fumbling balls. So we were trying to keep it in just a couple guy's hands to minimize passing which is really not our game. Our game is to spread the ball around but every time we went into something and looked to pass it too much we turned it over. We tried to find some offense. We didn't find much but found enough to win."

Said Bogut, "It's Scott Skiles' system. It's proven to win. If we play defense, it doesn't matter what we (score), it matters what the (final) score is. If we keep doing it, we'll be in most ball games."

Making nine of 12 free throws, the Bucks led after one quarter, 22-21. Charlotte did not go to the line. The Bucks were behind by one at halftime after shooting 23.8% and turning the ball over seven times in the second quarter. Milwaukee started and finished the third quarter well and took a 62-52 lead into the fourth. The Bucks led, 71-61, with 6:21 left only to see Charlotte charge back and close to within two with 2:43 left. The Bucks turned it over twice after that only to have the Bobcats miss opportunities to score at the rim

The Bucks were without guard Michael Redd, who missed his 11th straight game with an ankle sprain. Skiles is proceeding under the assumption that Redd will not be available for any of the three remaining games on the team's current four-game trip. The most likely scenario would be that Redd would return for Saturday's game against Cleveland at the Bradley Center.

The Bucks, one game below .500, will travel to Orlando for a game Monday and play at Atlanta and Detroit later in the week.

"We're hanging in there," said Skiles. "We're 7-8 with our top scorer out. Guys are trying to play defense. They're trying to do what we're asking them to do. That we've got to feel good about."

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