Coming off a momentous road victory over No. 14 Syracuse, the Wisconsin men’s basketball team will return to the Kohl Center Saturday to take on Temple.
It was a rough start to the season, as the Badgers were at risk of losing consecutive games for the first time since Jan. 2014. But the win against the Orange shows the Badgers may have turned a corner, albeit a small one, and the team will look to build on their best performance of the season.
Last time out
After shooting 33 times from behind the arc (and only making seven) in their blowout loss to Oklahoma, many thought the Badgers would face a similar fate against Syracuse’s vaunted 2-3 zone — a scheme that typically forces their opponents into plenty of low-percentage jump shots.
But that was far from the case, as while Wisconsin still shot just 27.8 percent from three, they only shot 18 of them and did most of their work on the inside. The game plan to attack the zone rather than settle for outside shots worked, as the Badgers left the Carrier Dome with a 66-58 overtime win over the Orange.
The team’s plan to attack the inside provided them with many scoring opportunities near the basket, and while the Badgers missed many of those short-range shots, those shots provided multiple opportunities for offensive rebounds and multiple chances in one possession.
After Ethan Happ’s game-high 15 boards and 12 from Nigel Hayes, each Wisconsin starter recorded at least six total rebounds en route to dominating on the glass, out-rebounding Syracuse 51-25 for the game.
Wisconsin’s game plan Wednesday night looked like the blueprint for these Badgers moving forward, as they played to their strengths (rebounding, toughness on the inside) and strayed away from their weaknesses (outside shooting).
They will look to continue that aggressive, grind-it-out style of play as they make their return to the Kohl Center Saturday.
Get to know the Temple Owls
Fran Dunphy has coached Temple since 2006, and has led the team to a 194-111 record in his tenure. After taking the Owls to the NCAA tournament in five of his first seven season with the program, the coach has failed to lead his team to the big dance in each of the past two seasons.
This season, the team boasts what looks to be a measly 3-3 record, but each of those three losses have come against teams ranked in the Top 20 at the time. The battle-tested Owls are riding a two-game win streak into the Kohl Center and bring a high-scoring offensive attack to the court, averaging 71.2 points per game this season.
They currently have four players averaging double-digit scoring through the first six games of the season, led by Quenton DeCosey, who is averaging 15.5 points per game thus far. DeCosey has also been a lethal outsider, as he has hit 47.4 percent of this threes and is shooting 50 percent from the field overall.
The Badgers will look to take advantage of yet another opponent who has failed to be effective on the boards this season, as Temple currently has a rebounding differential of -2.4, while UW boasts one of +8.7.
