The Wisconsin Badgers’ improved play — say the cynics and skeptics out there — is due to little more than the fact that the Badgers have been playing a lot more home games than road games in recent weeks. Yet, basketball is basketball. Teams have to perform when the bright lights are on, no matter which uniform they are wearing or which gymnasium they are shooting in.
Wisconsin has put in the work. The Badgers have toiled and developed. This team has very clearly evolved. UW has a real chance to finish in second place in the Big Ten. Did anyone think this was possible after the loss at Iowa in late January, leading into the Michigan State game on Feb. 1? Even the skeptics have to give Wisconsin basketball a lot of credit for what has happened over the past three weeks. It might be a small-scale rebirth, but it still rates as a renaissance. We can debate whether the renaissance will continue, sure, but a renewal has certainly unfolded since Feb. 1.
What is one of the main manifestations of this renaissance since the start of February? Improved 3-point shooting:
#Badgers were 29.7% from three (58 of 195) through first 10 games. Remember UW hit just 14 of 76 attempts (18.4%) in losses to Richmond, New Mexico and NC State. In the 17 games since, UW is shooting 36.8% from three (175 of 475).
— Jeff Potrykus (@jaypo1961) February 24, 2020
The Badgers shot near 50 percent on 3-pointers in their home-court win versus Nebraska in January. The idea that Wisconsin could regularly shoot near 50 percent on triples in games against teams other than Nebraska or Northwestern was never realistic. Occasionally, yes, but not on a relentless basis.
The above statistic shows how much a modest increase in shooting accuracy has meant to Wisconsin. The Badgers went from 30 to 37 percent on threes. It’s not as though UW is Steph Curry from 3-point range. It is merely 37 percent, basically 3 of every 8 threes attempted. We said earlier in the season that reaching somewhere between 36 and 38 percent would make a world of difference for this team. That is exactly what has happened.
Amazing how a renaissance takes flight: not always with incredible transformations, but sometimes with modest yet substantial and consistent improvements. When those improvements occur in several statistical categories, the overall effect is substantial.