Wisconsin came up short in their first test of the 2021-22 season as the Badgers fell to Providence 63-58 in a low-scoring affair on Monday night.
It was a postgame box score that once again made it look like the Badgers (2-1) were searching for offensive answers against the first difficult defense they have faced all year. The film, however, doesn’t fully support that narrative.
Neither does a deeper statistical look at the shots Wisconsin was able to generate. Shot Quality, a company that specializes in analyzing the quality of shots that teams get within a game, put out an eye-opening postgame report. Based on the shots that both teams took, Wisconsin was expected to win by 15 points, but ended up losing by 5:
Wisconsin lost to Providence by 5, but dominated the quality of shots, were expected to win by 15 and win 90% of the time… pic.twitter.com/k35Iu1IakB
— ShotQuality (@Shot_Quality) November 16, 2021
The Badgers went just 5-27 (18.5%) from distance, with three of the five makes coming from senior guard Brad Davison. Were they all excellent looks that simply didn’t go down? No, but there were a healthy chunk of jumpers that you would take within the offensive flow that simply didn’t fall.
Wisconsin missing their best offensive player in Jonathan Davis certainly contributed to the overall scoring output, but this early in the season process is more important than results. There were many times on Monday night where it felt like the Badgers’ process was sound, but the results left a lot to be desired.
Here is a look at some of those offensive processes, both good and bad, from Wisconsin’s loss to Providence: