Whether you are a Wisconsin fan or simply a fan of the game,
Tuesday night’s 49-47 Badger loss to Michigan State was about as frustrating as
it gets. The game slugged along with neither team hitting the 40% mark from the
field and a combined six points being scored over the final 6:56.
By every account, Wisconsin should have come away with a
victory. Despite shooting just 29.6% from the field, the Badgers had every
opportunity to scratch out a win until missing their final five free throws in
the closing minutes. Yes, UW scored just four points in the final 7:37 of the
game, three on a miracle three-point shot by none other than forward Ryan
Evans, and still had a chance to send the game to overtime with two free throws
in the final seconds.
“Its cost us the game before and obviously it cost us the
game tonight,” senior forward Mike Bruesewitz said of the free throw shooting.
“We’ve got to get in the gym and start knocking them done, plain and simple. It
can’t be an excuse anymore.”
Tuesday night was textbook Wisconsin basketball and the
Badgers still couldn’t come away with the win.
That is why Tuesday night’s loss to Big Ten-leading Michigan
State is even more worrisome than Saturday’s “upset” loss in Iowa City. Iowa
has always been a difficult matchup for the Badgers and the Hawkeyes were able
to dictate the pace throughout a blistering first half run that gave them an
insurmountable 20-point cushion before UW could even blink.
On the other hand, the Spartans are a team Wisconsin can
handle. Having successfully neutralized Michigan State’s strong front court duo
of Adreian Payne and Derrick Nix (4 points, 8 rebounds combined), UW put the
game on the shoulders of the sometimes-inconsistent MSU guards. Though Keith
Appling and Branden Dawson each crept close to the 20-point mark, even the 37
points that duo was able to notch only left the Spartans with 49 points on the
night.
Wisconsin was 78-2 under Bo Ryan when holding opponents
under 50 points, so you had to like the Badgers’ chances given that effort on
the defensive end. But Michigan State also had those statistics in front of
them and paid no attention, instead choosing to accept they were going to be in
for a rough game and to embrace it, something many teams struggle with when
playing Bo Ryan’s Badgers.
“I think some teams make a mistake by trying to make
Wisconsin turn up the speed of things,” MSU head coach Tom Izzo said. “They
don’t turn it over, I don’t care who they are playing. So we said we need to
make sure we play a little like them in that respect.”
Though UW has shorn up its defense to this point in the
season, this remains a formula that will get the Badgers beat in conference
play. No longer blessed with a talented point guard the likes of Jordan Taylor
to create penetration, Wisconsin is going to be largely at the whim of its
sometimes inconsistent outside shooting. That is a given and no matter what
Ryan and his staff try to do, they will have a tough time scoring when the
shots aren’t falling.
But more importantly, Wisconsin has to do the little things
well. Michigan State beat them in this respect Tuesday night, something very
few teams have been able to do during Bo Ryan’s decade at the helm of the UW
program.
The Spartans did turn the ball over ten times, but UW turned
it over nine times themselves, with each team capitalizing on those turnovers
to the tune of nine points. Wisconsin needs to have an advantage in that regard
in order to win. MSU dominated in the paint, outscoring Wisconsin 20-10 despite
the poor effort from their vaunted front line.
But above all, Michigan State shot 75% from the line, making
9 of 12 chances at the charity stripe. Wisconsin was just 7-for-18 at the line,
including a dismal 5-for-13 effort in the 2nd half.
These are the little things that used to put UW teams over
the top, allowing Wisconsin to compete at the highest level against teams with
a distinct talent advantage. Say what you want about the guard play and the
loss of leaders like Taylor and injured guard Josh Gasser, these little errors
are really what have put the Badgers in such a precarious situation.
But in the absence of Taylor, perhaps Wisconsin needs a
change in mentality. The back court resources available to UW do not include
anyone with the experience of a player like Taylor but perhaps include one
player with even more pure talent and certainly more athleticism.
Redshirt freshman George Marshall has had an up-and-down
season after being named the starting point guard in Gasser’s absence. Thanks
to some early struggles, not surprising for a freshman, Marshall was replaced
in the starting lineup by sophomore Traevon Jackson after just six games.
Since the change was made, Marshall has seen his minutes
drop dramatically and his “leash” shortened infinitely, to the point where even
a single off-the-mark pass can mean an immediate and often prolonged benching.
On the other hand, Jackson has been given the reigns and has been provided with
a far more consistent opportunity to play through his mistakes. During the
Badgers’ two-game slide, Jackson is just 3-for-19 from the field with four
assists and three turnovers (I would add at least two more according to my
scoring).
Yet despite his struggles Jackson has continued to stay on
the court. Against Iowa he fouled out in 31 minutes of play and against MSU he
was pulled with four fouls in 28 minutes. By contrast, Marshall, who scored a
game-high 20 points in the 2nd half against Iowa, has tallied just
32 minutes in the two games combined.
Both Jackson and Marshall are going to have to contribute in
order for Wisconsin to make its 15th straight NCAA Tournament
appearance. In the process, both Jackson and Marshall are going to have their
ups and downs, a product simply of their inexperience at the college level.
But in the end, Marshall’s athleticism and pure talent as a
guard and simply as a basketball player make him the man who will be of the
most help for UW long-term. Even now, Marshall has the ability to take over a
game, evidenced by his performance in Iowa City, that Jackson simply doesn’t
have.
For Wisconsin to get back to the top of the Big Ten ranks,
Marshall is going to have to be leading the charge. Doing the little things
will only get the Badgers so far, likely back to the NCAA Tournament. But if
this program is to take the next step, it has to prove it can utilize talents
like Marshall. He is going to make mistakes in the process but if he can make
two plays for every one of those mistakes, a ratio he is more than capable of
sustaining, Wisconsin will be better off both in the short-term and even more
so going forward into next season and beyond.
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