MINNEAPOLIS (NBA.com exclusvie) --  It may seem like a trivia question, but it's not trivial to the Milwaukee Bucks: Which is the only NBA team that hasn't allowed 100 points yet this season?

Andrew Bogut wasn't stumped by the quiz after Milwaukee's 87-72 victory over the Timberwolves on Friday. In fact, he knows exactly why the Bucks are the answer.

"This is a Scott Skiles team," the Bucks' center said after Milwaukee won at Target Center for just the second time in 11 years. "Whether we like it or not, we're going to be a defensive team."

Oh, they like it. In fact, by holding the Timberwolves to just 14 points in both the second and third quarters on Friday, the Bucks statistically became the NBA's best defensive team. Milwaukee, which limited the Bulls to just 83 points earlier this week in Chicago, is giving up an average of 84.8 points per game, almost a point better than second-ranked (and far more heralded) Boston.

"We always want defense to be our signature," said Skiles, the coach who brought his own reputation for hard-nosed defense with him to Milwaukee. "That's what wins. And right now, while we're a man down, it's crucial for us."

While they're missing All-Star guard Michael Redd, he means. The shooting guard, out for at least another week with a strain in his right knee, usually provides the bulk of Milwaukee's offense, a contribution that Charlie Bell (six points on 1-for-7 shooting Friday) and Jodie Meeks (six points on 2-for-8 shooting) are finding it difficult to replicate.

No wonder that the Bucks scored just 33 points in the first half of Friday's game, hitting only 34 percent of their shots. It was an ugly display, including a stretch of eight consecutive scoreless possessions in the second quarter.

But here's the wonder of that defense that Skiles has been preaching: Despite scoring fewer points in a half than any Minnesota opponent had managed since the 2007-08 season, Milwaukee trailed by a mere five points.

"When you buy into the system and do things the right way, you have a chance to win -- even when you don't shoot the ball well," Bogut said. "We're really starting to understand that now."

Al Jefferson understands that Milwaukee defense, too. The Timberwolves' chief offensive weapon was frustrated by the Bucks' collapsing defense all night, an effort that resulted in a season-low eight points on 3-for-12 shooting. Jefferson grew so discouraged, he even missed four of his six free throws.

"It was a team effort, not one individual," said Bogut, who took the lead in manhandling Jefferson much of the night. "Everybody who guarded him, guarded him pretty well. Guys were really digging in and helping us out, and he couldn't get a rhythm going."

That was by design, Skiles said. "When he takes off on the dribble, we try to help a little bit," the coach said. "Maybe Al didn't have his best stuff tonight as well. He's so clever down there."

He usually is, but on this night, Jefferson was overshadowed by Bogut, who posted a double-double with 17 points and 10 rebounds (and four assists, too), and Hakim Warrick, who scored 11 of his 12 points in the Bucks' decisive 31-point third quarter.

"Once (Warrick) made a couple, we didn't adjust quick enough," said Timberwolves coach Kurt Rambis. "Our defense was not aggressive enough -- there were chances to strip him, to clog the lane, and we didn't do that."

Not like the Bucks did, anyway. Milwaukee, which ballooned its lead to 17 points early in the fourth quarter, had scouted the Wolves' triangle offense well, and when Jefferson was cut off, Minnesota had no choice but to launch outside shots. Rookie Jonny Flynn, who largely outplayed Bucks' rookie Brandon Jennings, made enough baskets to finish with 20 points, but the point guard only contributed one assist. And his teammates combined to make just 35 percent of their shots.

"We know they're using the triangle, and if you deny it a couple of times, they maybe go away from it," Bogut analyzed. "They kind of hold the ball. Their post people want the ball moving from side to side, and we denied them a couple of entries. We denied Jefferson early; he wasn't getting easy catches and they couldn't really get it inside like they want to."

Jennings, who averaged 22 points in his first three NBA games, scored just nine points against the Wolves. But Luke Ridnour stepped up with a 16-point effort, 14 of them after halftime. With Ridnour producing from outside -- "A couple of times, stuff broke down for us and he just stepped back and hit a couple of huge threes," Bogut said -- and the Australian big man hitting from inside, the Bucks had little trouble overcoming Minnesota's early nine-point lead.

"He's such a factor on both ends," Skiles said of Bogut, a former No. 1 overall pick. "He's rarely in the wrong spot, he's always in help position, and he's a good rebounder. When he's not in the game, we have a tendency to kind of fall apart."