Apparently in Wisconsin, it takes a lot to carry regular-season memories into March.
The Badgers entered last weekend’s Big Ten Men’s Basketball Tournament in Indianapolis riding a four-game winning streak that saw them play their best offensive ball, which began with a rousing road upset of Ohio State. In their opening round game of the tourney, previously unheralded bench player Rob Wilson scored 30 points on an electric 11-for-16 shooting performance (7-for-10 from 3-point range).
Collectively, the Badgers’ late-season efforts seemed to set them up perfectly for a strong finish to the year. But then Wisconsin met Michigan State in the tournament semifinals and fell 65-52.
In their first game of the NCAA tournament, the fourth-seeded Badgers (24-9) will face the 13th-seeded Montana Grizzlies (25-6) Thursday afternoon in Albuquerque, N.M. The Grizzlies most recently won the Big Sky conference tournament with an 85-66 win over Weber State March 4.
“You’ve just got to take it game by game and all the hoopla, all the media talk really, at this point, is just out the window,” point guard Jordan Taylor said. “People are obviously going to pick who they want; that’s the fun of March Madness.”
While the Badgers have the higher-profile resume after finishing with a 12-6 record in the Big Ten – arguably the nation’s deepest conference this season – the Grizzlies enter the NCAA tournament having won their last 14 games, a stretch that dates back to Jan. 19. Their last loss came five days earlier at Weber State, a game that Montana entered on a six-game winning streak.
The Grizzlies heavily rely on their starting five, each of which averages at least 26 minutes per game. Three players average at least 10 points per game – junior point guard Will Cherry (16.0), sophomore guard/forward Kareem Jamar (13.8) and junior forward Mathias Ward (11.1). Montana’s two other starters, senior forwards Art Steward and Derek Selvig, each average 9.2 points per game.
“You look at stat sheets, they’re the iron five,” UW assistant coach Greg Gard said of Montana’s starting lineup. “They play a couple of other guys off the bench, but those five that start have really done a lot for them, carried them. … They’ve had different guys step up at different times throughout the year.”
According to Gard, Wisconsin scouted Selvig before he opted to stay in his home state. The 7-foot, 230-pound forward isn’t Montana’s only connection to Wisconsin, however.
Montana assistant coach Freddie Owens played four years for Wisconsin and two under current head coach Bo Ryan from 2001-04 and was a two-year starter.
Although Owens sports familiarity with Ryan’s system, Wisconsin’s head coach hardly seemed concerned on Selection Sunday.
“Look at the Big Ten, how much we know about each other,” Ryan said in Sunday’s post-selection show press conference. “But you expect that. Out of league, it’s a little different. So Freddie might be the most popular guy with [Montana head coach Wayne Tinkle] right now.”
Regardless, Wisconsin appears focused solely on its own game entering its 14th consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance and 11th under Ryan. Although the Badgers’ offense seemed to be clicking at the end of the season, the loss to the Spartans in Indianapolis highlighted a season-long issue – prolonged, ill-timed scoring droughts.
Against Michigan State, Wisconsin opened the game on a 14-5 run. Over the next 13 minutes, though, the Spartans built a 26-5 run to close out the half and lead 35-25.
MSU’s advantage blossomed to as many as 19 points little more than four minutes into the second half, but UW was able to bring it down to six points another four minutes later with a 13-0 run. That was the closest the Badgers came, however, as they ultimately lost by 13 points.
Entering the NCAA Tournament, Wisconsin believes it will be able to return to more fundamental scoring.
“Just moving without the ball, and maybe pushing it a little more, trying to get more easy baskets, whether it’s off the defense or just transition, stuff like that,” Taylor said when asked for the key to avoiding those droughts. “Most teams are better when they can play 5-on-5 defense the whole game, so just trying to put them at a disadvantage.”
