When a team is on a roll — and the Wisconsin Badgers are on a roll — one thing which typically happens is that someone different becomes the hero each game night. A team might attain a measure of relative consistency up and down its roster, but the leader will vary from one situation to the next. Everyone feels empowered. Everyone is confident and prepared. Everyone makes a significant contribution over the course of a few weeks. It isn’t just one person leading the show.
Wisconsin has become that kind of team. No wonder the Badgers have a six-game winning streak, a 12-6 Big Ten Conference record, and a great chance to get a double bye in the upcoming Big Ten Tournament plus an NCAA Tournament seed as high as No. 4 if they can win out (these next two versus Northwestern and Indiana plus three games in the Big Ten tourney).
Thursday in Ann Arbor, D’Mitrik Trice was a bad-ass brother trucker, kicking butt and taking names against a strong Michigan defense. Sunday in the Kohl Center, Trice still made huge plays to be sure, but Brad Davison and Brevin Pritzl were primarily responsible for lifting UW from a 66-62 deficit in the game’s final few minutes against the Minnesota Golden Gophers.
That first play doesn’t happen without @braddavi34 hustle to the ball. Something most people won’t see! https://t.co/Ag7xNFlJkO
— D'Mitrik Trice (@DMitrikTrice0) March 2, 2020
The group-based nature of Wisconsin’s game-defining contributions on Sunday — with everyone pitching in but Davison and Pritzl leading the comeback in tandem with Trice’s assist passes — is precisely what gives this team a chance heading into the NCAA Tournament.
When a team’s offense runs through just one or two players, a bad game from those central cogs means March misery and a quick exit from the Big Dance. Wisconsin’s offense is so diverse and balanced right now that opponents can’t take away one player.
Nate Reuvers has been this team’s leading scorer for most of the season, but in the past two games, his teammates have had his back. Trice scored 28 against Michigan, but on Sunday, he reverted to a playmaker. He scored just four points. He made just one field goal. However, he sacrificed his body on the boards — grabbing six rebounds — and handed out six assists while committing only one turnover. He had an excellent floor game.
Bottom line: No one on this team cares who scores the most points. That’s winning basketball. The Badgers are unselfish, and everyone cares only about getting a good shot. There is no me-first identity. This is the five-as-one mentality Dick Bennett put into the program 25 years ago. Bo Ryan solidified it. Greg Gard is continuing to instill it into new generations of players.
On. Wisconsin. You can see how the Badgers have sustained the winning ways which have powered this program to a lofty place throughout this century.