Wisconsin addressed some problems in its Wednesday night loss to Illinois. It did get to the foul line more (23 times up from 16 against Ohio State). Micah Potter scored 13 points and grabbed nine rebounds. That was needed. The Badgers got 21 points from Kobe King in a terrific performance. Yet, the good things Wisconsin did were drowned out by a dreadful effort on defense in the second half. Illinois scored 43 points after halftime, 14 in the final 4:16 of regulation, to win in the Kohl Center and snap a 15-game losing streak against the Badgers.
It is easy to say that Wisconsin should almost always win at home when it scores 70 points… and I will stand behind that statement. Yes, when playing Duke in the Big Ten-ACC Challenge or an elite Michigan State team, it might require more firepower to win in Madison. Giving up 75 points might be tolerable if the opposition is absolutely loaded with brilliant players.
Illinois is a good team. Illinois might be an NCAA Tournament team. The Illini have improved a lot. All those things are real. Yet, Wisconsin should not lose to that iteration of Illinois when UW posts 70 points and commits only eight turnovers, and wins big at the free throw line, 20 points to eight. Most of the blame does lie with the defense, but one source of this defeat lies with the offense, a huge problem for UW this season.
Have you noticed this? Do you know what I am about to reference? Here you go: Wisconsin has the troubling tendency to create only two double-figure scorers in its games against Power Five conference opponents.
Go back and look at the box scores against Ohio State, and Tennessee, and even Rutgers in early December. They all have one thing in common with Wednesday’s loss to Illinois: Only two Badger players scored in double figures.
Wow, right? That’s a big deal.
It’s fine if it happens once in a while, but this is a regular occurrence for Wisconsin basketball this season, and it certainly rates as a conspicuous limitation of the team that only two guys generally bring their best stuff on offense against good opponents. Wednesday night, it was Kobe King and Micah Potter who scored in double figures. Against Ohio State, it was King and Nate Reuvers. Against Tennessee, it was D’Mitrik Trice and Brevin Pritzl who scored in double figures. The combinations are different, but the bottom line is the same: Only two UW players get at least 10 points in any individual game against a Power Five team.
If the Badgers have to grow in the coming weeks, it’s not just on defense. How about three players finish with at least 10 points? That’s not too much to ask, or at least, it shouldn’t be.