Wisconsin was handed its third loss in a row on Wednesday evening, falling to NC State 69-54 in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge. Here are our top three takeaways from the game for the Badgers.
Wisconsin can’t get back to the friendly confines of the Kohl Center soon enough.
After a ho-hum start in the first two games of the season against St. Mary’s and Eastern Illinois, it appeared as though Wisconsin’s offense was coming together in the following three contests, especially in the impressive victory over Marquette in which the Badgers seemingly couldn’t miss at times, especially from downtown. A common denominator of those three encouraging performances against McNeese State, Marquette and Green Bay?
They all took place in Madison.
Once the Badgers were forced to hit the road to Brooklyn to take part in the Legends Classic, things quickly unraveled. Wisconsin’s play in the embarrassing losses to Richmond and New Mexico was abysmal to the point that it was near-unwatchable at times. The Badgers shot 39 percent from the floor in those two games, including just 24.5 percent from beyond the arc.
Badger fans who were hoping that Wisconsin would break out of its slump last night in Raleigh were bitterly disappointed, with Bucky going just 21-56 (37.5 percent) from the field overall and just 5-23 (21.7 percent) from three against the Wolfpack. The Badgers didn’t get on the board until the 15:43 mark, and it took a little over half of the first period for them to bury a three.
To make matters worse, Wisconsin’s complicated relationship with the free-throw line reared its ugly head once again, with the Badgers going just 7-15 from the charity stripe.
It will be interesting to see if Wisconsin can get this sputtering offense back on track in Madison on Saturday, but facing an undefeated Indiana squad that just took down No. 17 Florida State earlier this week, Badger fans probably shouldn’t get their hopes up.
Brad Davison couldn’t find a way out of his scoring slump.
It’s probably not a coincidence that Wisconsin’s three consecutive losses have coincided with one of the worst shooting slumps of Davison’s college career.
The junior guard was nowhere to be found against NC State last night, putting up three points and taking only five shots. Davison didn’t make much of an impact elsewhere, either, adding just two assists and three rebounds to his meager scoring total.
As it did with the Badgers as a whole, the Wolfpack did an excellent job defensively on Davison, but it’s possible that the very loud and persistent booing that greeted him whenever he touched the ball throughout the game got into his head a bit and contributed to his struggles.
After last night’s performance, Davison has mustered only 11 points on 3-20 shooting from the floor, including just 2-14 from long range, in Bucky’s last three games. If Wisconsin’s offense is going to start clicking again, it simply needs more from Davison, who has proven himself to be one of the few players on this roster who is capable of scoring consistently.
The aggressiveness from Aleem Ford and Kobe King was encouraging.
King and Ford didn’t exactly light it up from the field (they combined to shoot 42.8 percent) but Badger fans should be encouraged by the aggressiveness they both showed last night. As with Davison, it’s of vital importance that these two emerge as reliable offensive options this season, but both guys have shown a tendency to be timid with the ball in their hands at times throughout their careers.
King’s development, in particular, is crucial to Wisconsin’s success this season. The sophomore guard continues to look like the team’s best and perhaps only option to consistently break down defenses and hunt for his own shot. Again, King’s shots weren’t always going down against the Wolfpack (he had 11 points on 4-11 shooting), but he was getting into the paint at will for much of the contest, and that’s what Wisconsin needs from him moving forward.
While King looked strong at times last night, it was Ford who was Wisconsin’s best player. He was quiet for much of the first half but came out attacking in the second, finishing the game with a team-high 13 points on 5-10 shooting, seven rebounds, a steal and a block.
Ford continues to look like a completely different player from a year ago, flashing exciting inside/out scoring ability and playing with a noticeably higher amount of fire and toughness. Of all the players returning from last season’s roster, he has by far shown the most progress.