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The Badgers picked up a big pair of wins this weekend, and we talk about it all on today’s Locked On Badgers
On today’s Locked On Badgers, we go through a wild weekend of Wisconsin sports. Hear insight on Wisconsin football’s overtime thriller against Minnesota, Badger basketball’s dominant win over Louisville, and QB Jack Coan’s decision to enter the transfer portal. Locked On Badgers is available wherever you get your podcasts, with new episodes out Monday through Friday:
In the No.7 Wisconsin Badgers Friday night matchup against the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions, the Badgers started the game on an insan…
In the No.7 Wisconsin Badgers Friday night matchup against the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions, the Badgers started the game on an insane 25-0 run.
This effort was led by Aleem Ford who had eight points, a rebound, and an assist in the first ten minutes of the first half. These points came off of two three-pointers and a layup. Micah Potter also contributed significantly to the run with five points, two steals, two assists, and a rebound.
Wisconsin has looked phenomenal in the first half of the game, leading 53-19 against the Southwestern Athletic Conference Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions at halftime. This game has allowed many key freshmen to get minutes early on, with Jonathan Davis, Ben Carlson, and Steven Crowl all getting significant minutes in the first half.
Things you love to see:@aleemty2 hitting 3-pointers
The Badgers leading a game 25-0pic.twitter.com/kaKWLdRw2b
— Wisconsin Basketball (@BadgerMBB) November 28, 2020
Stay tuned to Badgers Wire for continued updates.
The Badgers open the season 1-0
The Badgers began the 2020-2021 campaign the same way they started last season: a win at home over Eastern Illinois. Both games were a tale of two halves, but the narrative was flipped.
Wednesday night was all Wisconsin through the first 20 minutes where the Badgers locked down defensively and built a 43-20 lead at the break. The Panthers stormed back with 47 second half points and ended up falling 77-67.
With freshman making their Wisconsin debuts, a Badger team that looked completely different from one half to the next, and ultimately a 1-0 start to the year, here are five takeaways from the opening win:
Wisconsin basketball ranked above Duke, Kentucky, and Michigan State in the first AP Poll
College basketball season is now officially close. We have rankings! Wisconsin, with high expectations for a senior-led group, opened in the top ten of the first AP Top 25 Poll of the 2020-2021 season.
The Badgers were not, however, the top Big Ten team in the primary poll, with that honor going to the Iowa Hawkeyes. There were three Big Ten teams, none of whom are named Michigan State, in the top ten with Iowa at No. 4, Wisconsin at No. 7, and Illinois at No. 8.
🚨 FIRST AP POLL 🚨
1. Gonzaga
2. Baylor
3. Villanova
4. Virginia
5. Iowa
6. Kansas
7. Wisconsin
8. Illinois
9. Duke
10. Kentucky— NCAA March Madness (@marchmadness) November 9, 2020
The Badgers also came in ahead of blue bloods in Duke and Kentucky, while falling one spot below Kansas. If there is one thing to take away from the top ten of the AP Poll, it’s that the peak of the Big Ten conference is as good as it has ever been.
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello released a new way-too-early Top 25 recently for the upcoming college basketball season and ranked the Badgers at…
ESPN’s Jeff Borzello released a new way-too-early Top 25 recently for the upcoming college basketball season and ranked the Badgers at No. 7, two spots up from their slot at No. 9 in his previous ranking.
“The Badgers keep sliding up a few notches in my rankings with every new edition. Not because they’re adding players or getting positive personnel news but because a team that shared the Big Ten regular-season title and brings back all five players who started the final game of the season is hard to ignore,” the article reads. “What changed over the final month, when Wisconsin won its final eight games? The Badgers became an elite offensive unit, despite losing double-figure scorer Kobe King in late January, and it was mostly thanks to two things: perimeter shooting and Micah Potter.”
Borzello continued by citing the team’s projected starting lineup, one which will be veteran-heavy and contain all guys who surpassed or neared a scoring average of double figures last season.
D’Mitrik Trice (9.8 PPG, 4.2 APG)
Brad Davison (9.9 PPG, 4.3 RPG)
Aleem Ford (8.6 PPG, 4.4 RPG)
Nate Reuvers (13.1 PPG, 4.5 RPG)
Micah Potter (10.1 PPG, 6.2 RPG)
Not much will change between now and when sports–college basketball in this case–can come back but all the early rumblings are pointing towards great things for Greg Gard‘s team in 2020-21.
Wisconsin was defined by their balance in 2019-20. Nate Reuvers, UW’s leading scorer, averaged just 13.1 points per game. If you round up, four Badgers, not including Kobe King, averaged double-figure scoring. This team has even more depth coming …
Wisconsin was defined by their balance in 2019-20. Nate Reuvers, UW’s leading scorer, averaged just 13.1 points per game. If you round up, four Badgers, not including Kobe King, averaged double-figure scoring. This team has even more depth coming next year to Madison, with a recruiting class that features five solid pieces. The 2020-2021 Badgers are going to be projected to finish near the top of the Big Ten Conference, and will certainly have much higher expectations at the start of the season than this year’s team did.
On a team where there will potentially be little separating the first guy from the tenth guy in terms of the depth chart, Aleem Ford could be a difference maker. The Georgia native had a career year this season, and his best work came during the back half of the Big Ten Conference schedule as the Badgers hit their stride. The redshirt-junior averaged career-highs with 8.6 points per contest and 4.4 boards per game. Ford also had the most efficient year during his time in Madison, as he shot the ball at a 43.2% clip from the field.
The 6-8 forward came to campus knowing that he needed to put in work in the weight room. Wisconsin took a chance on him out of IMG Academy, where he was an unranked recruit according to ESPN. Since 2016-17, Ford has added over 20 pounds of muscle and as a result became a more well-rounded player. Last season, he had a tendency to lack confidence at times, especially with his outside shot. During Ford’s redshirt-freshman year, he shot the ball at a 41% clip from downtown. That number dove down to just 28.7% in the 2018-19 season. This year, the Georgia native restored order from beyond the arc by shooting a solid 34% from distance. Shooting is extremely mental, and Ford had his head in the right place heading into the home stretch of the year. A stat that provides hope for Badger fans is that through Ford’s final 10 games of the season, that number was back up at 40% from three. There was no hesitation, even with a hand in his face:
Good one going on in Bloomington.
Aleem Ford and B1G co-leader @BadgerMBB are keeping things close. pic.twitter.com/OK4z4fqdCU
— Big Ten Network (@BigTenNetwork) March 7, 2020
Wisconsin went 9-1 in the final ten games, and Ford was a massive reason as to why.
There was also an added level of confidence in terms of putting the ball on the deck later in the year. Ford attacked the rim with purpose and finished with better consistency as the season wore on.
The 6-8 forward also possesses the length to create problems on the defensive end of the floor. It was an end of the court that even for the first few months of this season was a work in progress for the redshirt-junior. As the Badgers team defense improved in February and March, so did Ford’s individual defense. His pick-and-roll awareness looked noticeably different from December to February. Certainly give credit to Greg Gard and the staff for much of the improvement on that end both for Ford and for the team as whole.
Arguably no Badger improved more than Ford in terms of where they were in November and where they were in March. When he balled out on both ends, Wisconsin won games. That was no coincidence. That type of improvement bodes well for a player that has added strength and consistency. All signs point towards the redshirt-senior taking another step forward next year.
In this series, I want to look back on the memorable moments that defined the 2019-20 Badgers. This will not be a top-10 ranking of the best moments of the season from 10-1. Instead, I will go chronologically through the year and find ten moments …
In this series, I want to look back on the memorable moments that defined the 2019-20 Badgers. This will not be a top-10 ranking of the best moments of the season from 10-1. Instead, I will go chronologically through the year and find ten moments that made 2019-20 unforgettable for Wisconsin basketball. Each moment will be accompanied by a word that describes this 2019-20 Badger basketball team, and in this fourth installment, that word is balance.
Wisconsin’s offense was as balanced as you could find throughout the entire country. The stat that always impresses me most about the Badger February win streak is that through the first five wins, five different Badgers led the team in scoring; and none of those five players were UW’s leading scorer Nate Reuvers.
On February 18th against Purdue, that leading scorer was none other than Aleem Ford. There were no doubt some dark times, especially early in the year, for the junior swingman. The first time Wisconsin met Michigan State in mid-January, Ford played a total of six minutes and only attempted one shot. Fast forward about a month? The Georgia native is playing the most confident basketball of his career. The Badgers used that confidence to get redemption on a Purdue team that beat the doors off of UW at Mackey Arena.
Ford had a career-high 19 points against the Boilermakers, and shot 5-8 from distance. UW was able to hold off a late Purdue run and win it 69-65 to mark their third-straight victory at the time. Thanks to Ford’s shooting, balanced offense, and excellent free-throw shooting down the stretch Wisconsin closed it out at the Kohl Center. Throughout February and into March, Aleem Ford was a brand new player offensively. The 6-8 sharpshooter had found his range. Badger fans will certainly look forward to seeing what he brings in his senior campaign.
Grading Wisconsin’s road win over Indiana
Offense: B
Indiana didn’t allow anything easy against Wisconsin as the Badgers had to earn each point.
With the Badgers trailing by as many as nine points in the second half with 10 minutes to go in the game the Badgers were able to put together enough offense to claim their first Big Ten regular season championship since 2015.
The Badgers didn’t start making their comeback against Indiana until there was 6:52 to play and Wisconsin down by seven.
Wisconsin started by scoring on three consecutive offensive possessions to tie the game at 51. Nate Reuvers hit a jumper in the paint, which was followed by D’Mitrik Trice’s first points of the game, and on the third offensive possession, Micah Potter was able to complete the old-fashion 3-point play.
The Badgers officially took the lead for good on a made three by Brad Davison off of an assist by Potter with 4:05 to play. In total after getting down by seven points, the Badgers closed the game out by shooting 6-for-12 from the field and 3-for-3 from the free throw line.
In Wisconsin’s 16-to-5 run to close out the game four different Badgers scored as Davison scored five points, Trice and Reuvers each had four points, and Potter had the other three points.
Wisconsin had four players reach double figures as Reuvers led the way with 17 points, Potter had 14 points, and Aleem Ford finished with 12 points. Davison was the other player in double figures with 11 points as all three of his made field goals came from 3-point range.
Trice finished the game with four points as he finished 2-for-10 from the field but the shots he made down the stretch were critical as his final made shot put him at 1,000 career points.
Most importantly for Trice though was that even though his shot wasn’t falling he still found a way to set up his teammates. Trice led the way with five assists to one turnover as the Badgers finished the game with 12 assists on 22 made field goals.
The Badgers ability to consistently work the basketball around against the Hoosiers allowed for the Badgers to generate quality looks for themselves. Overall Wisconsin shot 22-for-53 (41.5 percent) from the field and 9-for-22 (40.9 percent) from three.
What grades did Wisconsin earn from their 63-to-48 senior night victory over Northwestern?
Offense: C
Wisconsin was able to lead throughout the game against Northwestern but their offensive showing wasn’t always pretty.
It appeared like Wisconsin was going to have another impressive offensive performance considering the Badgers jumped out to a quick 11-3 lead as they made their first four field goal attempts. Not to mention the Badgers made their first six of seven field goal attempts to give themselves a 16-5 lead.
But the Badgers did go through two scoring droughts one in each half as after Wisconsin’s strong start to the game they then missed their next five shots from the field.
Wisconsin also suffered through a lengthy scoring drought that occurred in the second half. Wisconsin was able to go into halftime up six and was able to extend their lead back to double digits over the first four minutes of the second half.
But after Brevin Pritzl’s made three with 15:56 to go in the game the Badgers didn’t make their next field goal until the 8:58 mark when Micah Potter was able to follow a missed layup by D’Mitrik Trice with a layup of his own.
In that close to 10 minutes without a field goal, the Badgers could only muster two points thanks to Aleem Ford knocking down a pair of free throws as the Badgers missed 12 straight shots.
Although the Badgers had their struggles to consistently find the bottom of the net they did receive a variety of scorers as nine different players for Wisconsin scored.
The Badgers were led in scoring by Nate Reuvers with 11 points on 4-for-9 shooting from the field as he was the only player to reach double figures. Wisconsin also had five different players score at least eight points and four of the five scored nine points.
Pritzl, Potter, Ford, and Brad Davison each had nine points and Trice finished the game with eight points. Overall Wisconsin finished the game shooting 23-for-59 (39 percent) from the field.
What grades did Wisconsin earn in their Big Ten home victory against rival Minnesota?
Offense: B
Wisconsin finished the game against Minnesota with nine offensive rebounds as the biggest one came thanks to D’Mitrik Trice with 59 seconds left in the game and Wisconsin down by two points.
After a missed three by Brad Davison in front of Wisconsin’s bench, Aleem Ford was able to tip the basketball out as Trice was able to corral the basketball at midcourt and after a couple of dribbles found Brevin Pritzl in the corner for three to give the Badgers a 67-66 lead.
Minnesota was able to regain the lead back thanks to a Daniel Oturu made jumper but following a timeout by Greg Gard the Badgers were able to regain the lead for good. Out of the timeout, Trice was able to force Minnesota’s defense to collapse on him by driving into the paint before finding a wide open Aleem Ford as Ford finished the play off with a dunk.
Pritzl also added two more free throws down the stretch to extend Wisconsin’s lead to 71-68. Micah Potter could have put the game away officially but he missed both of his free throws. Overall Wisconsin shot 17-for-24 (70.8 percent) from the free throw line.
The way Wisconsin shot the basketball from 3-point range over the month of February didn’t quite carry over into the first day of March as Wisconsin finished the game 8-for-24 (33.3 percent). But after only making three of their attempts in the first half they went 5-for-10 in the second half.
With the lead going back and forth over the final five minutes of the game the Badgers did go 3-for-4 from 3-point range. Trice made one of the three’s to give Wisconsin a 59-58 lead and Pritzl was responsible for the last two makes. Pritzl’s first made three with 3:31 to go gave Wisconsin a 62-60 lead and his second one gave the Badgers a lead at 67-66 with less than a minute to go.
Davison was one of four players for Wisconsin to reach double figures with 20 points on 6-for-13 shooting from the field. Pritzl was second with 15 points, and Aleem Ford and Micah Potter each finished the game with 10 points on a combined 7-for-16 shooting from the field.
Overall Wisconsin shot 23-for-58 (39.7 percent) from the field.
