Heading into Sunday’s game against the Wisconsin Badgers, the Marquette Golden Eagles probably thought they had the best player on the floor: Markus Howard. That was not a wildly irresponsible thought to have. Howard is a luminously skilled player and a legitimate star player in the larger world of college basketball.
Marquette was counting on Howard to be the best player on the floor in this game. The Golden Eagles and Steve Wojciechowski needed Howard to rise above everyone else in the Kohl Center and bring this game home. Howard was the “Wojo Mojo” Marquette hoped for.
Instead, Brevin Pritzl stole the show. Coming off the bench, Pritzl stuffed the stat sheet not only with 15 points, but with efficient shooting (4 of 6 from the field, 3 of 4 on 3-pointers, 4 of 4 at the foul line) and 13 rebounds, six on the offensive backboard. It is true that Howard was not the best player on the floor; Pritzl was. Yet, suggesting that a player-versus-player comparison — or a “best on the floor” designation — made the difference in Sunday’s game is a detour from the most important truth: This contest wasn’t centrally won by Pritzl, though he surely gave Wisconsin a difference-making effort; the Badgers’ biggest weapon against the Golden Eagles was their balance.
This is how it always needed to be for Greg Gard. Without Micah Potter, Wisconsin needed all hands on deck. It needed a stifling halfcourt defense to hold Howard to 6-of-21 shooting from the field. It needed all five starters to hit a 3-point shot. It needed all five starters to grab at least one rebound. It needed four of five starters to hand out at least one assist. It needed six different Badgers to score in double figures.
If Gard had a template for this game, he could not have hoped for a better outcome. This is exactly what 2019-2020 Wisconsin basketball has to be, certainly as long as Potter is unfairly prevented from playing. Sure, Wisconsin hoops took the next step when it cultivated takeover players such as Frank Kaminsky and Sam Dekker. Having elite crunch-time scorers will take a program to the next level. That said, Wisconsin faced a critical early-season test and not only passed it with flying colors; the Badgers aced this test exactly the way they needed to.
The act of winning was huge under any circumstance and regardless of details; the way in which Wisconsin won is just as important as the win itself, if not more so. Supreme balance — with high-quality performances from six different players plus capable defense from other members of the rotation — defined this victory over Marquette. It will need to continue to define the basketball Badgers as long as Micah Potter can’t take the court.