A few questions come to mind when thinking of the Wisconsin men’s basketball as they prep for Bowling Green Thursday night. How many tricks does Frank Kaminsky have left in his bag is definitely the first.
The Wisconsin (4-0) big man will return to the Kohl Center less than 48 hours since his 43-point record-breaking performance against North Dakota Tuesday night. Kaminsky’s 16-for-19 performance was an electric one that kept fans in their seats even as the Badgers pulled away to a 20-point lead in the second half.
Regardless of how much he may have proved on that special night, Kaminsky will continue to have to prove his consistency within the Wisconsin frontcourt. The 43-point outburst came just one week after “Frank the Tank” tallied eight points against Florida. He notched just two in the season opening victory against St. John’s.
If it’s any trend, Kaminsky and the Badgers will get their chances to score against Bowling Green (1-1). The Falcons surrendered 75 points to South Florida in their second game last Wednesday, where USF forward Victor Rudd was their second leading scorer with 16 points.
And as a team, the Badgers have been abnormally offensive to begin the 2013-2014 campaign. At just less than 80 points per tip, the Badgers have averaged more points during the first four games than they have in the past five seasons. The last Badgers squad to score at that rate was knocked out of the Sweet 16 by cinderella Davidson.
But while scoring might not seem to be an issue, the Badgers’ defense has been a small cause for concern for the undefeated team. While they put up 103 against UND, they also surrendered 85, the second time this season they’ve allowed an opponent to reach 75 points, also an abnormality for Bo Ryan-coached teams.
However, it’s still an early season and Bowling Green is just another opportunity to improve on that end of the floor.
“I think a good thing about this week having three games is that we can put this one behind us,” sophomore Sam Dekker said after Tuesday’s game. “We have some things we can correct, but we’ve got two more games coming up this week so we can put this defensive performance behind us and get better.
“Things can only get up. It’s just our fourth game of the year.”
They’ll start their fifth game at 7 p.m. Thursday night.
