The Kohl Center was the loudest it has been in months this past Tuesday as the University of Wisconsin’s basketball team faced up against Wake Forest in the final installment of the ACC-Big Ten Challenge. Sadly for the red and white faithful, cheers did not bounce off the court as the final half expired but rather a sense of deflated bewilderment.
Wisconsin’s loss to Wake Forest was technically their second, having lost to Kansas last week, but the more recent loss felt more authentic. The Badgers lost in quite an uncharacteristic fashion, letting the game go because of shots outside of the offense and a lapse on the defensive end.
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While the Badgers have faced some very skilled offensive teams this season, the Steve Forbes motion offense saw the highest scoring out of any opponent.
What hurt the Badgers was Wake Forest’s sophomore, Tyree Appleby, who scored 32 points. Appleby is an incredibly gifted offensive player and his numbers show the issues the Badgers may have against the pick-and-roll when initiated by high-speed guards. Appleby’s offensive game was highlighted by his ability to force switches and float the ball up to his bigs in the pick-and-roll.
The active nature of this offense exposed some fouling and depth issues with the Badgers, as both Jordan Davis and Connor Essegian were forced to play reduced minutes. In the time when both, the defensively powerful Davis and offensively talented Essegian, were off the court, the Badgers seemed slightly out of whack with rotations, playing out of their usual order.
Even with this foul trouble and defensive spottiness, the ACC-Big Ten Challenge was not without positives, seeing multiple players have both season and career-high scoring outputs. Notably, sophomore guard, Chucky Hepburn, played a stellar game, scoring six three-pointers on his way to a career-high of 23 points.
Even with this high output, there were times when the moment and past success seemed to latch on the Hepburn leading to fast uncharacteristic shots outside of the offense.
Junior center, Steven Crowl, also had a career-defining game. Soft-spoken Crowl came into Tuesday with a fire underneath him which fans have not witnessed since high school. A center, previously doubted for not having a strong enough frame, was initiating contact and working larger ACC big men. Additionally, Crowl could be seen directing the offense from the high post, a role that compliments his elite passing. In the end, Crowl still needs to be fully polished, still struggling to hit some close-to-the-rim shots, but he took a significant step Tuesday.
“I just knew I need to help these two guys [Hepburn and Wahl] and all my other teammates out,” Crowl said. “ [Be]cause we put a lot of load on obviously Tyler and Chucky the last couple of game to score the ball.”
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While adversity is hard for any team, losing at the beginning of the season before conference play has historically paid off, with teams learning from such losses. In the case of Tuesday night’s game, Wisconsin faced a highly efficient and offensively talented team, not unlike those they will play in conference play. A loss like Tuesday’s has the potential to act as a touchstone going forward, as the Badgers head into a highly talented Big Ten.
