With 13:13 to spare in the second half of Wisconsin’s third regular season contest, Head Coach Greg Gard called a 30-second time out.
The stoppage, encouraged by groans from the Kohl Center’s student section, came after the UW Green Bay Phoenix chiseled Wisconsin’s 19-point advantage down to just six in less than seven minutes of play.
With six giveaways through the first 10 minutes following intermission, the Badgers appeared out of sorts.
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Anchored by Will Ryan, son of Wisconsin Hall of Fame coach Bo Ryan, Green Bay suffered a 27-point blowout loss to Georgetown three days before its showdown with the Badgers. Even with an abysmal 14.3% split from deep and 56.5% mark from the charity stripe, the green and white outplayed the Badgers for most of the second half.
Sure, a win is a win, but Gard’s group seemed flustered. Three storylines defined UW’s performance on Tuesday night.
Inefficiency
As a team, the Badgers executed on 16 of 53 total looks from the field. Point guard Chucky Hepburn and forward Tyler Wahl accounted for 16 combined tallies off 4-25 from the floor, and seven-footer Steven Crowl registered just three total points up until the final 3:38 of regulation.
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With Green Bay’s tallest player, 6’10’’ Donovan Short, logging just eight minutes on the hardwood, Madison still could not convert on easy looks inside the paint. Layups, floaters and runners rolled around the rim, and shots typically drilled by Wahl did not fall.
Scheme
When Steven Crowl scores in double figures, Wisconsin wins over 90% of its games. Unfortunately, the “work through Crowl and cut” offensive blueprint did not come to fruition — the Badgers chalked up only eight two-point field goals.
To its credit, UW-Madison mustered a highly respectable 42.9% clip from downtown, but Gard’s offensive unit does not rely on three-point snipes. Unless Chris McIntosh ventures to the nation’s capital for now-Washington Wizard Johnny Davis or Lithuania to convince Brad Davison of a sixth season, the Badgers need to focus on cutting and post-oriented play.
Second Unit
Connor Essegian, UW-Madison’s freshman sharpshooter, played seven total minutes on Tuesday night while Markus Ilver, the versatile big from Estonia, saw 11 minutes of play. At American Family Field in Milwaukee, Essegian played 23 minutes against Stanford, but Ilver did not see the court.
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Given these fluctuations, it seems as if Gard is experimenting with his second unit. Fortunately, coaches normally shift lineups with newcomers, and minutes remain fluid.
Once the sixth men find their groove, though, the bench boost could establish Wisconsin into a sneaky competitor in a tough 2022-2023 Big Ten.
Looking ahead, Wisconsin aims to recalibrate against the Dayton Flyers on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at the Imperial Arena in the Bahamas.
