The Wisconsin men’s basketball team will play for the third time in five days, closing out a three-game homestand against Oral Roberts Saturday night at the Kohl Center.
Wisconsin (5-0) is off to a quick start this season, starting 5-0 for just the third time under head coach Bo Ryan. With a win on Saturday over Oral Roberts (2-2), the Badgers would match their best start of 6-0 under Ryan in 2011-2012.
A large part of Wisconsin’s early season success has come on the offensive end of the floor where the Badgers have shot 45 percent or better in their last three games, including a 54.9 percent performance from the field against Bowling Green Thursday.
“It’s the unselfishness of our team,” sophomore forward Sam Dekker said of Wisconsin’s offensive success. “We don’t mind giving up a shot to get a better shot for someone…Plus it’s nice to have shot makers. Any team can have shot takers, but you got to have some makers. And we have some of the best shooters in the country.”
Wisconsin’s offense has broken out for 69, 103 and 88 points in its last three games, and one player that has risen during that stretch is freshman point guard Bronson Koenig. He has missed only three shots all year – including a 4-5 mark from beyond the three-point line – and is coming off a career-high 10 point performance Thursday.
“He’s played terrific. I don’t think you can expect much more out of a freshman,” Wisconsin assistant coach Gary Close said. “He’s under control and he can play. He’s got great vision, and guys like playing with him. He’s got a chance to have a really exciting career.”
While it’s been all systems go on the offensive end, it has been a struggle on defense. Wisconsin is allowing an average of 68 points to opponents, including an 85-point outburst by North Dakota on Tuesday.
“We need to improve around the horn,” Close said. “We’ve had breakdowns literally everywhere whether it’s penetration, post defense, defensive rebounding. It’s a work in progress, and I think the guys understand that. Usually the defense sometimes takes a little longer to come around earlier in the year. It’s more complicated than people might realize.”
Wisconsin will welcome another mid-major conference opponent, in Oral Roberts out of the Southland Conference, that has the ability to shoot averaging just more than 68 points a game.
Oral Roberts’ offense did take a big blow earlier this week when its leading scorer Obi Emegano, who led the team in scoring averaging 19 points per game, injured his knee in a loss against St. Louis on Thursday.
The Golden Eagles’ offense will look to senior forward Shawn Glover who averages 18.3 points per game to pick up the slack left by Emegano’s injury.
