Tag: Nate Reuvers

Top quotes from the Badgers post-game

Some of the top questions and answers from postgame after Wisconsin’s 83-63 victory over McNeese State

MADISON- There was a lot to talk about after an impressive second half from the Badgers, and many players contributing to an 83-63 home victory for Wisconsin over McNeese State.

At the postgame press conference, I talked to Brad Davison and head coach Greg Gard. See what they had to say:

Q: McNeese State’s head coach (Heath Schroyer) mentioned how they were trying to double the post early on, which led to more open shots for you all on the perimeter. How did that give you and your teammates confidence for the second half, even when you might not have been hitting in the first half?

(Brad Davison) A: “I thought we got really good, high-quality looks in the first half, even if we weren’t knocking them down. We’ve got a lot of great shooters on this team at one time on the floor, so we’re all confident in our own shot, and we’re all confident in one another that we will get going.”

“So Nate and Aleem and Tyler, the post guys, were very unselfish to get the ball to us quick and on time. When you get passes on time and on target to good shooters, they’re going to fall. We just remained confident, and knew that they would keep coming.”

Q: Coach, you mentioned how defense can often help lead to good offense. How did one of the stretches, where the team forced six turnovers in six minutes, help lead to some of those open shots in the second half?

(Greg Gard) A: “I think any time you can score in transition, any time it is a turnover or a live ball turnover. Trevor Anderson made a great play, diving in a gap and digging for loose balls. When we are able to create live ball turnovers and run and make plays in transition, we have a lot of guys that can shoot the ball.”

“So, that puts pressure on a defense in terms of covering shooters, and as long we put pressure on the rim and make good decisions, we’ll be good. If we have something, take it, and if not, make a play so we can.”

Q: What did you like out of freshman Tyler Wahl tonight?

“Kid’s a player. He just keeps getting better and more comfortable. The offense and that stuff will come, and he stuffed his stat sheet a few games ago, but he just knows how to play. He’s versatile, he knows how to play…it’s hard for a true freshman to understand when we switch ball screens, when we don’t, when we flytrap, when we hedge, so he’s learning on the fly. He’s probably getting thrown in the fire faster than most freshmen have been, but he’s so versatile. He’ll get stronger with time, but just to be able to compete. I mentioned about the Davis twins and how they compete. If you compete, and you’re smart and can take instruction well, you will have a chance to play a lot, and Tyler has done that. You don’t have to tell him anything twice, and he’s only going to get better, because he is hungry, and he works at it.”

Game Day Grades – Wisconsin vs. McNeese State

Grading the Wisconsin Badgers basketball performance against McNeese State.

Offense: B

Wisconsin’s offense in the second half was much improved compared to the first half. For starters, Wisconsin shot 60.7 percent (17-for-28) from the field over the final 20 minutes compared to shooting 44.4 percent (12-for-27) in the first half.

The Badgers were able to generate looks for themselves in the first half that simply didn’t fall, compared to the second half. The one constant, though, was the Badgers were able to consistently set their shots up by registering an assist as Wisconsin registered 19 assists on their 29 made field goals.

Eight different players for Wisconsin registered an assist and seven of the eight registered at least two. Trevor Anderson led the way with four assists off the bench as he played 13 minutes.

Wisconsin did well at generating points in the paint in the second half as 16 of Wisconsin’s 30 points in the paint came in the second half. Although Wisconsin finished the game with 30 points down low, the Badgers were able to do most of that damage without Nate Reuvers. Reuvers dealt with foul trouble throughout the game as he finished with four fouls in 21 minutes on the court.

Reuvers still finished the game with 10 points as he was one of four Badgers to reach double figures. Brad Davison led the way with 24 points on 7-for-8 shooting from the field, Aleem Ford finished with 16 points, and Brevin Pritzl had 13 points.

Defense: B

Wisconsin’s defense in the first half against McNeese State wasn’t very good, as the Badgers allowed the Cowboys to shoot 45.5 percent (10-for-22) from the field.

In particular, Wisconsin’s defense didn’t have an answer for Sha’Markus Kennedy, as the Badgers allowed him to score 18 points in the first half alone. But the Badgers defense was able to tighten in the second half defending him as he only scored two points on 1-for-2 shooting from the field in the second half.

With Wisconsin limiting Kennedy in the second half and making sure he couldn’t gain the same kind of comfort, he was forced to try and set up one of his teammates on offense. Kennedy finished the game with three assists all coming in the second half as he was one of three players for McNeese State to finish the game with three assists.

A.J. Lawson was the only other player for McNeese State to finish the game in double figures with 10 as the Cowboys finished the game 21-for-45 (46.7 percent) from the field.

Although Lawson did reach double figures he did struggle taking care of the basketball as he finished with six of the Cowboys 18 turnovers. With Wisconsin creating such a high amount of turnovers against McNeese State the Badgers did an excellent job of capitalizing their mistakes into 30 points.

Wisconsin was able to register 10 of McNeese State’s 18 turnovers off of steals.

Overall: B

Wisconsin didn’t play a great first half as the Badgers were only up by three at halftime. Wisconsin was able to get on track and officially put the game away in the second half when the Badgers went 13-for-15 from the field over the first 10 minutes of the second half including making 10 straight field goals over that stretch to put the Badgers up 71-to-52.

During Wisconsin’s hot streak a number of players contributed as Ford scored 10 points, Pritzl had seven points, Davison registered six points, and D’Mitrik Trice chipped in with two points.

In the stretch where Wisconsin made 10 straight of their shot attempts it also included the Badgers knocking down all four of their 3-point attempts. It was good for Wisconsin to finally see the three falls for them considering their struggles from the perimeter to begin the season. The struggles from the perimeter continued in the first half as Wisconsin went 3-for-13 but in the second half, it seemed like they couldn’t miss as they went 7-for-15.

Five different players for Wisconsin made at least one three and four of the five made at least two of their 3-point attempts. Walt McGrory was one of the five players to make a three as he finished the game with a career high nine points. McGrory was able to provide a spark for Wisconsin off the bench in the first half as he finished the game with two rebounds, two assists to one turnover in 24 minutes on the floor.

Wahl played a bench high 26 minutes and in his time on the floor, he was productive on both ends. Wahl finished the game with three points on 1-for-2 shooting from the field but he also registered three rebounds, three assists, and two steals.

Game MVP: Brad Davison

Davison certainly had his shot falling as he finished with a season high 24 points on an impressive 7-for-8 shooting from the field and 3-for-4 from 3-point range. In addition, Davison went 7-for-7 from the free throw line. Davison was able to set up his teammates as he finished the game with two assists and registered three rebounds. Not to mention with McNeese State struggling to take care of the basketball it wasn’t surprising to see Davison contributing in creating those extra offensive possessions as he had a team high four steals.

Quick hits from Wisconsin’s 83-63 victory over McNeese State

It took a while for the Badgers to hit their stride. But when they did, it was a sight to see on the offensive end.

MADISON- Although it took a while for the Wisconsin Badgers to get going against McNeese State, the home team exploded for 46 points in the second half, and went on cruise control for an 83-63 victory at the Kohl Center to improve to 2-1 on the young season.

Early foul trouble

One major reason for Wisconsin’s early lack of success was some foul trouble to two of the team’s big men, Aleem Ford and Nate Reuvers.

Wisconsin should have been able to use its size to an advantage against a smaller, more guard-oriented team.

But Ford picked up three fouls in the first half, and Big Ten Player of the Week Nate Reuvers got two fouls in each half, so neither player was able to get into a rhythm early on, especially Reuvers coming off such a big week.

In the second half, that was luckily not such a big issue.

Big minutes from walk on

When Wisconsin was struggling early in the game, and even down nearly double digits within the first few minutes, head Coach Greg Gard made an interesting move and gave junior walk-on Walt McGrory his first minutes of the season.

McGrory’s minutes were huge for the Badgers, as Walt scored nine minutes in the first half alone, and more importantly brought a palpable surge of momentum and energy to the squad in a rut.

If he wasn’t the MVP of the entire game, McGrory was certainly a driving force for the Badgers as they turned the game around in the first twenty minutes.

Hot shooting

Wisconsin was double-teamed in the post early in this contest, which created a lot of open shots from the perimeter.

Those shots did not fall in the first half, but they certainly did in the second half, including a stretch where Wisconsin hit 10 shots in a row.

One of the most ridiculous stretches came as part of a 13-3 run, which included back-to-back-to-back threes from Brad Davison, D’Mitrik Trice and Brevin Pritzl.

Wisconsin ended up shooting 61% in the second half, but it felt more like 80%, as part of an impressive run to seal the win for the Badgers at home.

 

Nate Reuvers Named Big Ten Player of the Week

Nate Reuvers was named by the Big Ten as its player of the week.

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It’s only been two games but Nate Reuvers certainly has been impressive in the early goings as he’s averaging 18 points, 10 rebounds, and 6.5 blocks.

This is the first time in Reuvers career where he has been recognized as player of the week by the Big Ten. Reuvers is the first Wisconsin player to earn this recognition since Ethan Happ who did it last season (Dec. 10, 2018).

In Wisconsin’s season opener against Saint Mary’s Reuvers finished the game with 22 points, tying a career-high while also registering six rebounds and four blocks. Reuvers was able to follow that up by registering his second career double-double against Eastern Illinois as he finished the game with 14 points and 14 rebounds in addition to having nine blocks.

Reuvers has been Wisconsin’s most consistent scorer as he’s shooting 46.2 percent (12-for-26) from the field and has made at least one three in each game. In addition, Reuvers 6.5 blocks per game rank second nationally behind Marquette’s Theo John who’s averaging eight blocks per game.

Wisconsin will host Marquette on Sunday at noon as the game can be seen on FS1. Before the Badgers square off with their in-state rival in the Golden Eagles the Badgers will play McNeese State on Wednesday at 6 p.m.