Ted Porath- Familiar Wofford Heading to Madison

The No. 13 Badgers (3-0) will host the Wofford Terriers Saturday night at the Kohl Center. The Badgers have looked rather impressive in their first two games, winning them by 54 and 27, respectively. In these games the Wisconsin offense has averaged 76.5 points per game and is shooting over 50 percent from the field. What has really caught the eye of everyone though has been the Badgers’ ability to make three point shots. The Badgers made 15 against Kennesaw State and 10 against Colgate, shooting over 52 percent from three in those two games. “If that’s what the defense is giving us, we’ll take it,” Head Coach Bo Ryan said of his team shooting so many threes. “I don’t think there was one three in there that was really a bad three.” The star of the Badger offense thus far has been sophomore guard Ben Brust, who has come off the bench to be a spark plug and an x-factor for Wisconsin. Brust has averaged 15.5 points in the first two games, hitting 50 percent of his shots and making eight of his 16 attempted threes. While it has been Ben’s shooting ability that has gotten him all the press, he has been playing solid defense this year and been contributing in all other facets of the game. Coach Ryan emphasized that this is why Ben has gotten his opportunity this year. “Ben can hunt a shot down pretty well, but defensively and ball-handling and decision-making [he had work to do],” Ryan said. “If a guy’s ready he’ll play, if a guy isn’t he works his way into playing, but now he’s trying to be a defensive player and a good passer and a good rebounder. Wisconsin’s ability to defend has just as much to do with their winning this year as their ability to knock down shots, if not more. The Badgers have been able to hold their two opponents to an average of only a measly 36 points per game, and in these games the Badgers have been able to hold their opponents to contested jump shots, resulting in very low percentage from the field (29 percent). Typical though of a Bo Ryan coached team, Wisconsin, despite its success, feels it can improve defensively. Wofford is coming into Saturday’s game having rebounded off of its first loss against Georgia to win its last game against Emory & Henry 70-55 on Sunday. While Wofford might not seem like a tough opponent, the Badgers should ask the 2009 Badgers about just how tough they are to beat; Wofford played Wisconsin in the first round of the NCAA tournament and was leading in the game but ended up losing by only four points. Wofford is coming off its second-straight Southern Conference title, and though they have lost four of their starters from last year’s team, including SoCon player of the year Noah Dahlman, they have a legacy of winning which means they will not be afraid of Wisconsin or coming to the Kohl Center.

Ted Porath- Badgers Rout Colgate Despite Sloppy Play

After a resounding 54 point victory against Kennesaw State on Saturday, in which the Badgers shot 15-25 from behind the arc and moved up one spot to No. 14 in the AP Poll, Wisconsin looked to pick up its second regular season win against the Colgate Raiders of the Patriot League in the teams’ first ever matchup. The Badgers (2-0) were able to pick up another easy win as they beat the Colgate Raiders (1-1) 68-41. This was Wisconsin’s 21st consecutive win at the Kohl Center and the 38th in their last 39 home games. The Badgers came out firing in the first half once again, making seven of their first 11 three pointers and shot 52 percent overall to score 42 first half points. The second half was more of a struggle for the Badger offense, scoring only 26 points. The main reason for this was an over eight minute shooting funk at the beginning of the second half in which Wisconsin missed 12 of their first 13 shots, including a 0 for 9 stretch. Coach Bo Ryan was not concerned, chalking this up to simply missing shots. “Sometimes shots don’t go down and that’s why you take the entity. You can’t take a minute here, five minutes there,” Ryan said. “Basketball can be that way sometimes; sometimes the shots just aren’t going.” Despite a worse shooting percentage from the field in this game (44.3 percent), the Badgers were still able to be effective offensively, as they were dominant down low, outscoring Colgate 32-12 in the paint and were once again able to shoot a high percentage from three, making 10 of their 23 shots behind the arc. Leading the way for the Badgers was once again sophomore Ben Brust, who is proving to be an x-factor as the sixth man. After hitting four out of eight threes in Saturday’s game, Brust wasted no time to get acclimated to Wednesday night’s game. Brust was once again a force coming off the bench, staying red hot making 4 out his first five threes and scoring 12 of the Badgers first 32 points. Though Brust was less effective on offense in the second half, he was still able to come away with 17 points for the game. Junior center Jared Berggren was big reason the Badgers controlled the paint, scoring 9 points and hitting the boards for 7 rebounds. After a solid performance in the Badgers’ first game he backed it up in the second and could be the force in the paint that the Badgers desperately need down the road this year. The Badgers once again played defense, getting deflections and filling passing lanes, which allowed them come up with11 steals and outscore Colgate 9-0 on the fast break. Junior forward Ryan Evans was a big contributor to that, contributing with four steals of his own to go along with his seven points. Despite the Badgers’ success thus far, they will have to improve on their free throw shooting if they are to be an elite team this year. This is surprising as Bo Ryan’s teams are usually one of the best in the country at the charity stripe. The Badgers only made four out of 14 free throws against Colgate and have only shot 52 percent on the year at the line. The Badgers will now shift their focus to the Wofford Terriers, who come to Madison Saturday night. Wofford is 1-1, having lost to Georgia on the road in their first game and beating Emory & Henry 70-55 at home in their next game.

UW Ready For Raiders

There was plenty to talk about following Wisconsin’s 85-31 season opening win over Kennesaw State. From the record-tying first half in which the Badgers only gave up 8 points to the 54 point margin of victory, their largest since 2006, the season opener was certainly a wake up call to a UW fan base heading into yet another season not knowing what to expect. Having dismantled a somewhat one-dimensional Owl team Saturday, Wisconsin now faces the challenge of facing a much more disciplined, multi-dimensional Colgate team. “We know the experience level of most teams is going to go up {from Kennesaw State},” UW head coach Bo Ryan said Monday. “They’ll play better together and play better off each other on both ends of the court.” Colgate is one of those teams, led by two seniors in guard Mike Venezia and forward Sterling Melville who combined for 39 points in Colgate’s 78-74 season opening win over Binghamton, the Raiders’ first season opening win in three years. “You like to play good teams earlier in the year that can prepare you for the Big Ten season and for tougher non-conference play,” sophomore guard Josh Gasser said. “We know Colgate is going to be a good team, they are well coached and they run their system right.” One way that UW figures to combat that system is by making sure that the frontcourt remains a presence both in terms of scoring and on the boards, an area where the size advantage UW has should allow them to dominate. Juniors Jared Berggren and Ryan Evans both finished Saturday’s game in double-digits scoring, with fellow junior Mike Bruesewitz adding a 7-point, 4-assist, and 8-rebound performance of his own. Bruesewitz and the rest of the big men have focused not only on providing a boost to the team’s point totals, but more importantly on taking care of the little things that may or may not show up on the box score. “There was times when I maybe could have taken a shot but I passed up a good shot for a great shot,” Bruesewitz said. “That’s how you shoot 65% from three is when you have a lot of guys who are unselfish. Little things are so important and they contribute to why we’re so efficient offensively.” The emphasis on the little things goes beyond just the big men up front. Senior guard Jordan Taylor, having led the country in assist-to-turnover ratio last season, turned in another efficient performance Saturday with 7 assists and no turnovers. “Jordan is obviously a good scorer pretty much whenever he wants but teams are going to take him away,” sophomore guard Josh Gasser said. “He’s such a good point guard that he wont make bad decisions and he will get other guys involved.” One of those guys Taylor will look for on Wednesday is sophomore guard Ben Brust. Having only seen minimal time during his freshman year, Brust has surged onto the scene early this year, finishing Saturday’s regular season opener with a team-high 14 points coming off the bench. “When I did get those opportunities {last season} and I watched myself not have success, it just eats at you,” Brust said. “I just looked back and I said I would never let that happened again.” Brust is not alone in playing with that chip on his shoulder, as the drive to continue to improve and to continue to succeed seems to permeate the entire Badger roster. So while Colgate comes to Madison with an experienced and talented group of players primed to pull off the upset, Wisconsin simply doesn’t seem ready to let anything like that happen anytime soon.

Ted Porath- Badgers Start off Season With Blowout Win

The AP preseason No. 15 Badgers men’s basketball team took on the Kennesaw State Fighting Owls on Saturday in the first ever meeting between the two teams. After handling UW Stevens Point in their one and only exhibition game, 80-54, Wisconsin looked to continue their winning ways in their first regular season tussle of the year. Continue their winning ways they did, playing soundly on both ends of the court and running the Owls out of the gym to the tune of an 85-31 drubbing. Early in the game it was clear that that Saturday’s game was going to go their way, despite Spencer Dixon banking in the first shot of the ball game to put the Owls up 3-0. Any hopes Kennesaw State had of winning the game were dashed by a 16-0 run by Wisconsin that included two threes by junior Mike Bruesewitz that gave the team the early lead that they would not relinquish. The Badgers defense, however, had a lot to do with this sound victory, playing great team defense and relegating Kennesaw State to contested jump shots most of the first half as the Owls shot a paltry 13 percent from the field, only making three of their first 23 shots and scoring only eight points in the process. It was the exact opposite for the Badgers offense, as they came out firing on all cylinders. The Badgers shot 54 percent from the field in the first half, with a variety of Badgers combining to shoot seven out of 12 from behind the arc. The beat continued on into the second half as the Badgers ended the game shooting 15-25 from behind the arc and shooting 59 percent from the field. The secret to the Badgers success on offense was making the unselfish extra passes that allowed Wisconsin players to constantly shoot and make open shots, especially three-pointers. This was evident as the Badgers had assists on 23 of their 30 made baskets. The Badgers also dominated the battle of the boards, out-rebounding the Owls 41-20. Leading the way for the Badgers offense were sophomore Josh Gasser and freshman Ben Brust, with each scoring 14 points. Gasser, who also had four rebounds and four assists, was unconscious shooting the ball, never missing a shot as he went four for four from three and made both of his free throw attempts. Brust was a spark plug off the bench, playing well at both ends of the court. Brust was active on defense and stellar on offense hitting three after three, finishing five of 11 from the field and four for eight from downtown. With this game being the blowout that it was, head coach Bo Ryan was able to sub-in a variety of players. Normally this type of substituting throws off a team’s chemistry and thus play becomes sloppy, but this was not the case as five different Wisconsin players scored in double figures and ten different Badgers were able to put up points in the box score. “I thought all the gears were pretty much meshing no matter who was on the court,” Ryan said. “And that’s a good sign.” This balanced scoring is definitely a great sign for a Wisconsin basketball team that, with the loss of Leuer, Nankivil and Jarmusz, had faced questions all off-season about who else besides preseason all-American Jordan Taylor was going to be able put the ball in the basket. The Badgers’ next game will be on Wednesday night at the Kohl Center against the Colgate Raiders of the Patriot League, who won their first game of the year, defeating the Binghamton Bearcats of the American East, 78-74.

Josh Schur- Freshman Class Ready for New Challenge

Josh Schur- Each year brings new promise for Wisconsin men’s basketball, and Badger freshmen certainly figure to play a role in fulfilling that promise. While there may not be any big name recruits, the incoming class certainly has a lot to offer. The five freshmen each bring something different to the table, and the talent of the freshman class is certainly evident. The five freshmen include guards George Marshall, Jordan Smith, and Traevon Jackson, forward Jared Uthoff, and big man Frank Kaminsky. “They have different types of players across the board…” Sophomore guard Ben Brust said. “So it’s good that it’s pretty diverse and they all bring something different to the table.” The Badgers seemingly get a little bit of everything out of the freshman, as not only the height, but also the strengths of the players cover nearly every aspect of Wisconsin basketball. “I would have to go with my offense, especially my post offense,” Kaminksy said when asked about his main strengths. While the former Benet Academy star was brought to Madison more for his offense, the speedy Marshall seems to be able to pick it up more on the defensive end. “I take great pride in my defense,” Marshall said. “That’s definitely another one of my strengths.” From the solid post game of Kaminsky to the quick hands of Marshall, the Badgers definitely get contributions all across the board. It is hard to pick out many similarities between the freshmen, but the difference in their individual play doesn’t seem to affect the chemistry with the team. “Theyre all good guys, they welcomed me with open arms and its been a pretty easy process…” Marshall said. “I feel like I learn something everyday” Fitting into a new system can be difficult for any new player, and the transition from high school to college is always a big leap. For these freshman though, the experienced veterans on the team have made the change much easier. From senior guard Jordan Taylor, to junior forward Jared Berggren, the forwards and guards alike both have the leadership above them to succeed in the system right away. “The leadership has been very good, Jared Berggren and Jordan Taylor are definitely the leaders out there and have been teaching me everything,” Kaminsky said. “I have been learning from them everyday. Mike Bruesewitz helps me out a lot too and the coaching staff is great.” While history may show that freshmen playing time isn’t easy to come by at Wisconsin, the players realize that the work they put in everyday will eventually lead to chances to play down the road. The start of the season is finally here, and the excitement for not only the upcoming season, but also the years down the road, is definitely at a high.

Badgers Start Off Season Right With Win Over Pointers

Capping off a busy day and night of Badger athletics in Madison, the UW men’s basketball team got their season off to a solid start with an 80-54 over Division 3 powerhouse UW-Stevens Point in the Badgers’ lone exhibition game of the season.

Junior forward Ryan Evans, thrust into the starting lineup following the departure of three seniors from last year’s front court, led the way with 16 points on 7 of 10 shooting in 23 minutes. Sophomore guard Ben Brust added 14 of his own, while junior forward Jared Berggren and sophomore guard Josh Gasser rounded out a group of four Badgers in double figures with 12 and 10 points respectively.

The scoring outburst by Berggren and Evans was particularly welcoming, with the front court completely revamped from last season.

“I didn’t notice anything I haven’t known for a while…” senior guard Jordan Taylor said. “They know what they’re capable of, they’re really good players and they’re just getting a chance to show it now.”

“We’ve known we can do this kind of stuff,” Evans said. “But with Jon and Keaton {Nankivil} leaving, we know we’ve got to step up a little more.”

After a season in which UW relied heavily upon the scoring of Jon Leuer and Taylor, Badger fans were treated to a much more spread out scoring attack as the Badgers managed to hit the 80-point mark despite Taylor only finishing with 8 points on 3/6 shooting. The senior guard made his presence well known throughout, however, as he finished the game with a game-high 7 assists to just one turnover.

“Jordan wasn’t looking to do anything but run the show,” Ryan said of Taylor. “If the shots were there then great…that’s when you know you’ve got a good point guard.”

The Pointers hung in the game through the first half, drawing within 10 after opening the second half with a score, but quickly fading as the Badgers size and strength began to take its toll. Senior guard Dan Tilema led the way for Stevens Point with 24 points on 8/17 shooting, but ultimately it wasn’t enough to keep pace as the Pointers faded from a 62% effort from the field in the first half to shoot just 32% in the second half.

“It seems like every time you play one of these games, there’s a guy who gets hot,” Ryan said. “You just can’t give him open looks and we did a much better job of that in the 2nd half.”

The Badgers were very aggressive on the defensive end throughout the game, forcing Stevens Point into committing 18 turnovers, a high tally for a Pointer program known throughout the division three world for its ability to take care of the ball.

While the positives were everywhere for UW, one area that will certainly get emphasis in the break down is the free throw shooting. A season after nearing setting an NCAA record for their proficiency at the line, the Badgers were just 6/12 from the charity stripe in the opener, a far cry from last season’s 81.4% season total.

“You remember its who is shooting them…” Ryan said. “Last year, the right guys got fouled, confident shooters. But yeah, its early.”

The Badgers now have another week to batten up the hatches before opening the regular season next Saturday against Kennesaw State. Tip off is at noon at the Kohl Center.

Josh Schur- Badgers Continue To Grind Away in Final Week of Preseason

Josh Schur-

It is obvious that the Wisconsin men’s basketball team is ready for the season to begin.

With their first exhibition game against UW- Stevens Point on November 5th approaching, the team is now in the process of putting some finishing touches on the usual style of play for Wisconsin basketball, hard nosed and fundamentally sound.

The battle for playing time is still fairly open as sophomore guard Ben Brust and freshman forward Jarrod Uthoff saw extended time today with the first team during practice and took advantage. Brust especially has been playing well, as he seems to have improved upon every aspect of his game. During the red-white scrimmage on Sunday, Brust had 22 points in a performance that clearly showed his improvement from last year, as well as his talent.

Along with Uthoff, fellow freshman Frank Kaminksy also played with the first team, and showed his versatility in the post as well as on the perimeter. After the scrimmage, the Badgers showed some of their strengths in their shooting and passing drills. As always, it was impressive to see nearly every Wisconsin big man making their long-range jump shots with ease, and this poses a threat for opposing defenses every game.

The interior passing of the Badgers was also on display during the scrimmage, and the drills at the end of practice showed how it is a point of emphasis in the Badger game plan.

As all practices end, the free-throw shooting was nearly perfect for the Badgers. This factor alone shows how this team should have the ability to close out games, and their style of play as a whole looked very solid today.