Tag: badgers basketball team

Film room: Here is how Wisconsin basketball dismantled Minnesota

The Badgers tore Minnesota up on Thursday

Wisconsin basketball needed a response after coming out flat in an upset loss to Maryland on Monday. They responded by being at their best on Thursday in an important, dominant 71-59 win over Minnesota.

To see such drastically different performances three days apart will be the norm in the 2020-2021 Big Ten conference. With a league this deep, one off night can rapidly turn into an upset loss or an embarrassing blowout. There were, however, many noticeable differences in the box score on Thursday that will dictate wins and losses for Wisconsin this year. Here is a look, both statistically and with film, at how the Badgers flipped the script on Thursday.

Everything for Greg Gard and company started on the interior. After losing the points in the paint battle 38-21 against Maryland on Monday, the Badgers outscored Minnesota 40-18 inside.

Their interior defense stepped up and forced the Gophers into just 5-15 shooting on layups at the rim. The Badgers also did a tremendous job keeping Minnesota off of the free throw line.

This play late in the first half sums that up perfectly. With dynamic Gopher guard Marcus Carr running full speed ahead at Badger big Nate Reuvers, Wisconsin’s all-time leader in blocked shots stays vertical to force a miss. Any attempt to go for the basketball probably results in a whistle here:

Wisconsin didn’t force things from three and finished 6-15 (40%) from beyond the arc against Minnesota. In particular, Aleem Ford showed the confidence and the stroke that he had late last season. The senior finished with a pair of made threes, and a variety of other buckets to give him 14 points:

This bucket late in the first half was particularly impressive. Ford attacks towards the corner so he can switch hands into a comfortable post look. Then, how about the touch on that fadeaway?

Wisconsin also got out and ran selectively, after finishing with zero fast break points against Maryland. It all started with perimeter defense that turned into layups:

 

One of the most significant differences on the offensive end was an emphasis on post touches early. Reuvers and Micah Potter were heavily featured in the offense early, and it opened up the everything for the Badgers on that end later. Potter had Wisconsin’s first five points thanks to the Badgers clearing out a side and letting him go to work.

Johnny Davis makes the entry here, and then clears out to let the big man eat. The spacing allows Potter to have a true one-on-one battle in the post:

Overall, Wisconsin found themselves on the interior and it allowed for a blowout win. If the Badgers play inside-out, selectively run, and knock down in rhythm threes, they will find themselves at the top of the Big Ten conference in a couple of months.

 

 

Wisconsin basketball is heavily favored vs. Maryland according to BetMGM

The Badgers are heavy favorites at home today

The No. 6 Wisconsin Badgers are unsurprisingly heavy favorites over a Maryland team that has started 0-2 in the Big Ten. Is BetMGM giving the Terrapins enough points?

Wisconsin is currently a 9.5-point favorite over Maryland, meaning that a bet on the Badgers spread would only cash if UW won by 10 points or more. The Badgers are also a massive -550 favorite to win, meaning you would need to risk $550 to win $100 on Wisconsin to win the game outright.

Maryland has started 0-2 in the Big Ten, with a 14-point home loss to Rutgers and a three-point loss at Purdue that only became close late in the second half. This certainly feels like a spot where Wisconsin should cruise at home against an inferior opponent that struggles for offense. The Badgers are 2-0 in the conference, coming off of a massive win at Michigan State where they covered the spread.

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Get to know Loyola-Chicago, Wisconsin basketball’s last-minute opponent tomorrow

The Badgers face the Ramblers at the Kohl Center

After a last-minute cancelation of Wisconsin basketball’s only game this week, a home contest against Northern Iowa, the Badgers scrambled to find an opponent.

Wisconsin found another talented Missouri Valley Conference foe in Loyola-Chicago, and the Ramblers will face the Badgers tomorrow evening at the Kohl Center with tip scheduled for 6 PM CT.

Loyola-Chicago comes in at 3-0, although this will be their first true test of the year.

If you follow college basketball, you will remember the name Loyola-Chicago from their miracle 2018 Final Four run that was filled with game winners and clutch moments. Head coach Porter Moser, the man that led them there, is still on the sidelines for the Ramblers in his ninth season with the school.

Speaking of holdovers from the 2018 Sister Jean-led miracle, senior big Cameron Krutwig has come a long way since his true freshman season saw his team end up in the Final Four. The 6-foot-9 bruiser was selected as a preseason-all MVC choice, and has lived up to that billing through three games. The 2019-20 season saw Krutwig lead the Ramblers to 21 wins while putting up over 15 points a game to go along with 8 rebounds and 4 assists. He’s an agile big for his size who has great hands on the interior and on the defensive end.

Krutwig is far and away the most talented post scorer Wisconsin has seen this year, and it will be an excellent battle when the Badgers’ all-time blocks leader Nate Reuvers goes to work with him in the paint.

Fellow senior Lucas Williamson, another player who played a part in the Final Four run, is off to an efficient start. Although the sample size is small, the combo guard is shooting over 60% from three and over 56% from the field as a whole. He has scored in double figures in two of the three Rambler wins so far.

Senior lefty Tate Hall also provides a shooting spark for Moser on the offensive end, and shot over 45% from three a year ago.

Behind Krutwig, the key word with this team is depth. The Ramblers have a bunch of guys who can contribute, and are still in the process of figuring out who plays what minutes. This version of Loyola-Chicago is as deep as they have been since 2018, and if it weren’t for a stacked Northern Iowa team that has failed to live up to expectations early, they would have been picked to win the MVC running away.

Offense, however, is not where the Ramblers beat you. Under Porter Moser, this team has been near the top of every defensive metric you can measure. It was defense that got them to the Final Four, and it is defense that has kept them at the top of the Missouri Valley Conference. This year, the Ramblers are No. 10 in the nation in scoring defense at just 55 points allowed per game, although the sample size is small. Last year, the lead the MVC in scoring defense allowing just over 61 points per contest.

These are two teams that mirror each other in a lot of ways, with a team-first, “we over me,” approach on offense and man-to-man defense that can stifle opponents. Expect a low scoring game and keep an eye on Reuvers and Potter handling Krutwig on the interior.

Instant Analysis: Wisconsin falls at the buzzer to Marquette

Wisconsin falls to their in-state rivals at the buzzer

In a game where two rivals traded leads down to the final 0.9 seconds, Wisconsin fell 67-65 at the buzzer to Marquette for their first loss of the young season.

The first half was an ugly offensive display from a Badger team that was in serious foul trouble. Micah Potter, Nate Reuvers, and Brad Davison all picked up two first half fouls and were forced to the pine early. In the half court, there were stretches where, partially as a result of the bigs in foul trouble, UW couldn’t find the paint. As a result of a few sloppy first half turnovers and slow developing offense, Marquette jumped out to a five-point advantage at the break.

The half court defense wasn’t an issue, but holding a balanced scoring attack from Marquette down when you can’t find rhythm on the opposite end is a difficult task. The Golden Eagles took advantage of early offense and Wisconsin sloppiness throughout the first 20 minutes.

The second half was a roller coaster of runs from both teams that culminated in multiple lead changes throughout the final three minutes. After Ohio State transfer D.J. Carton put the Golden Eagles up two with just over a minute left, Aleem Ford hit a clutch three to put Wisconsin back up by a point. The two teams traded layups, and the Badgers had a chance for the final shot while trailing by one.

A ridiculously tough D’Mitrik Trice one-legged jumper put the Badgers on top with five seconds to play, but was quickly followed by the Wisconsin point guard inexplicably attempting to draw a charge on Carton and being called for a blocking foul.

After a make to tie the game, the second free throw bounced high off the rim to the outstretched arm of Justin Lewis for a buzzer-beating Marquette tip-in for the win.

It felt all evening like the Golden Eagles were the team that brought consistent energy. The Badgers had long stretches of non-existent offense and lost the battle inside to the first formidable front line they have faced this year.

The bright spots offensively wearing red were freshman Johnny Davis and Trice. Davis finished with 12, scoring in a variety of ways and getting to the line twice. Trice was the initiator down the stretch, and made a beautiful dime to Reuvers and a tough jumper during Wisconsin’s final two possessions respectively.

It could be boiled down to a tip-in and Potter being initially pushed off of his spot by Lewis, but this loss was deserved for stretches of offense in the first half that built a five-point deficit at the break. Still, even with a performance from a pair of seniors in Potter and Davison that is not up to their standards, the Badgers had a chance to steal one in Milwaukee. A pair of mistakes in the final five seconds sent Wisconsin packing.

 

Micah Potter named to the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award watch list

The Badgers big man named to a 2021 watch list

The Badgers added another senior to a preseason watch list this morning. Wisconsin big man Micah Potter was named to the 2021 Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award watch list for the best center in college basketball, a list that includes 20 bigs from around the nation.

Wisconsin basketball has history with the award, most recently in 2019. In the six years that the award has been around, Badgers have won it twice: Ethan Happ in 2019 and Frank Kaminsky in 2015.

The clear favorite for this year’s award also comes out of the Big Ten conference. Last year’s Big Ten Player of the Year Luka Garza will look to lead Iowa to a deep March run, and look to take home the Kareem Abdul-Jabbar Award in the process.

 

Wisconsin basketball begins the season in the KenPom top 10

The Badgers finish as a top 10 KenPom team in the first rankings

Ken Pomeroy, a college basketball analyst who consistently has some of the most accurate rankings in the sport year after year, has released his first 2020-2021 installment. As expected, Wisconsin was near the top.

The Badgers ended up at No. 7 overall in the initial rankings, a list led by Baylor at No. 1, Gonzaga at No. 2, and Duke at No. 3.

Wisconsin led the Big Ten in KenPom rankings, with Ohio State following the Badgers at No. 10 overall and Iowa sitting at No. 12 overall.

The Badgers return what could be an all-senior starting lineup of D’Mitrik Trice, Brad Davison, Aleem Ford, Nate Reuvers, and Micah Potter. That same five started Wisconsin’s last game of the 2019-20 season, a win at Indiana that gave the Badgers a share of the Big Ten title.