Badgers Close Out Non-Conference Play With Blowout Win

A week after returning from finals with a victory over in-state rival Milwaukee, Wisconsin men's basketball continued in its winning ways with an 87-51 win over Stamford in the team's final game before Big Ten play. Bucking an early season trend of slow starts, the Badgers (9-4) quickly stomped on the visiting Bulldogs (3-11) with an 8-0 run over the game's first four-plus minutes.

Returning to the starting lineup for the first time since late November, senior forward Mike Bruesewitz had his best effort of the season. The St Paul, Minn native scored 9 of UW's first 13 points and finished the game with 13 points, 4 rebounds, and 3 assists in just 25 minutes. Fellow senior Ryan Evans started slow but finished with a team-high 14 points and 12 rebounds while also notching 3 steals.

Having struggled from beyond the arc at times throughout the season, the Badgers woke up and knocked down 12 of 22 attempts from three-point range, all but ensuring a third straight win heading into the Big Ten opener against Penn State. After heading into the halftime break with a 47-19 lead, UW kept pounding away, eventually building that lead up to 41 points late in the second half.

Wisconsin now has four days to prepare for a crucial conference opener next Thursday. Having lost guard Tim Frazier, Penn State is likely destined for the Big Ten cellar and represents a "must win" game right out of the starting blocks for Wisconsin.

Badgers Return From Studies To Past Non-Conference Test

After a 10-day layoff for final exams, Wisconsin men’s basketball got back in the swing of things early on as they rolled to a 74-53 win over Milwaukee. Once again trailing at the first media timeout, the Badgers (8-4) responded with scores on each of their next 8 possessions, sparking a 33-8 run to close out the first half with a 41-18 lead.

Senior Ryan Evans led the way for UW in what was a very balanced effort against the struggling Panthers (3-10) as all five starters finished with at least 5 points. After an inconsistent first 11 games, Evans made 3-of-4 free throws and finished the game with 19 points, 7 rebounds, and 4 assists to lead the way in all three categories for UW.

Sophomore Traevon Jackson also had a career night offensively, finishing with 13 points on 5-of-8 shooting. Though the Ohio native continued to struggle at times handling the ball, his performance on both ends of the floor showed marked improvement from previous games against Green Bay and Marquette. Fellow guard George Marshall posted a +25 first half and finished the game with 6 points on 2-of-4 shooting. The combination of positive performances from these two guards was clearly the brightest spot in a game full of UW highlights.

The Panthers once again struggled to put the ball in the basket, a theme in what has been an utterly disappointing season. UWM only managed to shoot a tick above 30% from the floor in the first half and failed to reach the 60-point mark despite getting comfortable offensively in the 2^nd half.

While the outcome was never put in doubt, the Badgers cannot be happy with their sloppy play in the second half. After pushing the lead to 27, UW allowed Milwaukee to pull within 17 on the strength of a 12-2 run made possible by poor shot selection and a few carless turnovers on the part of Wisconsin.

Sloppiness aside, Wisconsin finally hit free throws on a consistent basis. Coming into the game at just 63% as a team, UW made 11-of-13 at the line on Saturday. Though not under a tremendous amount of pressure, these were free throws Wisconsin wasn’t making in the early part of the season and are free throws UW will have to make in order to compete in Big Ten play.

The Badgers now head home for a couple days to rest and enjoy the Christmas holiday before getting back at it on Wednesday in preparation for their final non-conference game Saturday against Stamford. Conference play is now less than two weeks away and having left itself little room for error, UW must take advantage of what little time they do have to get ready for a crucial opening stretch.  

Freshman Send Badgers Into Finals With a Win

After a poor effort Saturday against Marquette, Wisconsin was looking for a bounce-back performance in their final game before finals Wednesday against Green Bay. Though the Badgers once again struggled at the starting gates, they were able to erase a 7-point first half deficit and cruise to a 65-54 win over the Phoenix.

Perhaps the most important contribution for UW was the six points from freshman guard George Marshall. After the Badgers started 1-for-10 from the field, Marshall replaced fellow guard Traevon Jackson and provided a much-needed spark with back-to-back three-point buckets to trim the Green Bay (3-6) lead to just three.

While Marshall’s spark wasn’t enough to immediately give UW the lead, the run that began with senior forward Ryan Evans’ first two made free throws was ultimately enough to put Wisconsin (7-4) ahead for good. Having watched Evans miss 8-of-9 free throws Saturday, it looked as if the early success at the line was enough to give the Badgers a confidence boost as they finished the half on an 18-2 run.

Making his second consecutive start, freshman Sam Dekker had another solid effort, finishing with 10 points and 6 rebounds on 3-of-7 shooting. But the surprise of the night had to be the performance of freshman guard Zak Showalter. The former walk-on had his most extended opportunity on the floor and made the most of it, finishing with a career-high 8 points to go along with 4 rebounds and 3 assists.

All told, the three freshman were responsible for 24 of Wisconsin’s 65 points, especially important with junior guard Ben Brust only able to muster 6 points on 2-of-7 shooting. The 22 points Wisconsin got from its bench was another reason it was able to overcome an inconsistent effort to get the comfortable win.

Even with the quick start, Wisconsin managed to keep Green Bay in check most of the night. The UW front line held Green Bay junior forward Alec Brown, a 7-footer with NBA potential, to just 8 points on 3-of-11 shooting before he fouled out in the final minute.

One area the Badgers are still struggling to take care of is rebounding. Wisconsin was outrebounded 35-32 Wednesday night as the Phoenix were able to grab 11 offensive rebounds and convert them into 11 second-chance points. The Badgers have now been out-rebounded 5 times this season and are now 1-4 when that occurs.

Wisconsin now has 10 days before its next game as the Badgers break for finals starting this weekend. Milwaukee will visit the Kohl Center on December 22 in UW’s penultimate non-conference matchup. The Big Ten season lies just 22 days away and with just two more games to prepare, UW looks far from ready to compete. Though Wednesday’s win certainly rights the ship, the Badgers are still squarely on the proverbial bubble as they wrap up non-conference play. 

Badgers Come Out Flat and Fall To Marquette

Whatever hope was born out of Wisconsin’s wins over California and Nebraska-Omaha last week was lost over forty minutes of ugly basketball Saturday in Milwaukee. Playing without junior forward Mike Bruesewitz, the Badgers (6-4) lacked energy and poise from the opening tip, committing 10 first-half turnovers en route to a 34-20 halftime deficit. Ultimately, that deficit was simply too much to overcome as UW fell to Marquette 60-50.

“We just got rattled by the pressure a little bit,” sophomore guard Traevon Jackson said of the first half. “They took advantage of it.”

Although it looked in the first half as if Wisconsin might get run out of the gym, a quick start in the second half carved 11 of the 14 points off the Marquette lead and pulled the Badgers within a single possession with 10:28 left. But while the Wisconsin run certainly woke up the Bradley Center crowd, UW could not sustain the momentum, missing several opportunities at the free throw line before finally running out of gas down the stretch.

“They just made a couple plays and we didn’t make plays,” senior forward Jared Berggren said. “We were close and just didn’t get it done.”

UW climbed back into the game in large part thanks to a concerted effort to work the ball inside, forcing Marquette (6-2) into early foul trouble. The Golden Eagles committed 6 fouls in the first 6:26 of the half, allowing UW to shoot free throws for the final 13-plus minutes of the game.

“I thought we did a good job of drawing fouls and getting a chance to go to the free throw line…” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “For about 12 to 15 minutes of that 2^nd half, I really liked what I was seeing.”

Unfortunately, the Badgers could not capitalize, making just 9 of 23 free throws including misses on 5 of their final 6 chances. Senior forward Ryan Evans was the primary culprit, making just 1 of his 9 chances at the line. Two of those misses came on crucial 1-and-1 situations in the 2^nd half with UW on a run and trailing by just 4.

“I think it cost us the game tonight…” Evans admitted. “I haven’t experienced anything like I did tonight but we’ll keep pushing and we’ll get it right.”

There really weren’t any silver linings for UW in this loss. Although freshman Sam Dekker made an early impact in his first career start, he was only able to notch a single point in the 2^nd half, finishing 2-for-10 from the field and just 2-for-5 at the free throw line.

Though Wisconsin was able to climb back, Marquette senior guard Junior Cadougan ultimately kept the Badgers at bay. After a first half that included just 4 points in 10 minutes, the Toronto native gave the Eagles a major boost with 14 2^nd half points on 5-of-6 shooting.

“Those were very tough shots where he was floating the ball up in the air,” Ryan said. “Those weren’t layups.”

Former Wisconsin commit Vander Blue also had a big night, racing out of the starting gates with 15 points by halftime and finishing with 17 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 steals in a team-high 35 minutes. In addition, Blue was a force defensively, holding Dekker without a field goal after being switched onto him defensively during the 2^nd half.

The Badgers now have 4 losses in non-conference play for the first time since 2001 and have just three more games before the start of Big Ten play on January 4^th. Unable to get on a sustained run through the first 10 games of the season, UW needs desperately to turn things around over the final two weeks of the non-conference season in order to be in a position to compete in conference play.

At this point, a third consecutive trip to the Sweet 16 does not seem likely. But under Bo Ryan, the Badgers have never finished worse than 4^th in the Big Ten and have reached the NCAA Tournament each and every year. Now definitely a “bubble” team, Ryan has his work cut out for him if he wants to keep those streaks alive.

“Every big test we have had we have come up short…” Berggren added. “We are right there in most of these games but its something we have to learn real quick because to have 4 losses at this point in the season, that’s not where we want to be.”  

Badgers Pick Up Key Non-Conference Win In Rout of California

Having started off the week with a dismal effort in Wednesday’s loss to Virginia, Wisconsin men’s basketball got back on track quickly Sunday as they cruised to an 81-56 win over previously undefeated California.

Junior guard Ben Brust led the scoring for the Badgers (5-3) with a season-high 22 points on 9-of-13 shooting, but it was once again the energy of freshman Sam Dekker off the bench that sparked the Badgers’ first half outburst.

Dekker checked in for the first time with 16:19 left in the half and UW still scoreless. When the Sheboygan native was replaced by Kaminsky less than 4 minutes later, the 2-0 Cal lead had turned into an 11-point Wisconsin advantage, Dekker contributing to 10 of the Badgers’ 15 points during the run.

“Dekker was good,” Cal head coach Mike Montgomery said of Dekker. “He’s going to be a real nice player.”

“He was able to get a couple creases and he is pretty good at finishing around the basket…” UW head coach Bo Ryan said. “He’s just learning, but he did give us a good spark.”

The Badgers got plenty of production up and down the lineup on their way to a third 80-point effort in the seasons’ first 8 games. Brust and Dekker were joined in double figures by Evans and fellow senior Jared Berggren, who followed an inconsistent effort against Virginia with an 18-point, 8-rebound performance that was one of the best Berggren has had thus far this season.

“There were a lot of the same looks {as against Virginia},” Brust said of the Badgers’ shooting. “Its just a matter of stepping up to the plate and finishing the plays.”

While the Golden Bears (6-1) would climb back within 7 later in the opening half, a 12-0 run by Wisconsin in response effectively ended any hopes Cal had of leaving Madison unscathed. UW would finish the half with a 13-point cushion and sailed smoothly to victory from there, never trailing by less than 17 over the final 15 minutes of play.

“They just outplayed us…” Cal junior guard Allen Crabbe said. “We just dug ourselves too deep a hole in the first half.”

Having struggled most of the season on both the offensive and defensive glass, UW finally had a good effort in the trenches, outrebounding a California team that entered the game averaging over 40 rebounds per game. The Badgers converted their 14 offensive rebounds into 18 second-chance points, piling on with another 25 points on 23 California turnovers.

“We took care of the small stuff,” senior forward Mike Bruesewitz said. “The team that plays harder generally wins and that’s what we did tonight.”

Though Wisconsin was able to hold most of the Cal attack in check, Crabbe was an exception. The Los Angeles native was responsible for nearly half of the Bears points, finishing with 25 on 8-of-15 from the field. His teammate in the backcourt, Justin Cobbs, was not as fortunate. After averaging over 20 points per game coming in, Cobbs was held to just 11 on 3-of-10 shooting, adding insult to injury with 7 turnovers and no assists.

“I thought we did a pretty good job on Cobbs because he has been scoring like crazy…” Ryan said. “We did a better job of sticking to our rules, make a guy make a jump shot rather than a layup or a power move at the basket.”

Having finally gotten their first non-conference win over a major conference opponent, the Badgers now have just one final tune-up Tuesday against Nebraska-Omaha before next Saturday’s rivalry game in Milwaukee.

But for a Badger team that has failed to get on more than a two-game winning streak over the first three-plus weeks of the season, another tune-up before the duel with Marquette is certainly much needed.