D'Mitrik Trice Looking to Polish Late Shot-Clock Situations

MADISON, Wis. – He’s too humble to say it outright, but D’Mitrik Trice knows there’s a growing confidence around the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball program that he is turning into a special point guard.

Captaining a squad that has won five of the last six to move two games out of first place in the Big Ten, Trice is averaging a respectable 10.7 points per game but it’s his penchant for smart decision making (37 assists to 11 turnovers) that has the Badgers trending upward.

“Trice’s development and evolution as a point guard, he’s become tougher minded,” head coach Greg Gard said following Trice’s eight-point, nine-assist, two-turnover performance in the 79-71 victory over Rutgers Sunday. “He’s become a go-to guy in that regard.”

Trice has spent a considerable amount of time polishing his game over the course of his career and one of his latest tasks – the late-game clock situation – could play a determination in what the Badgers can accomplish in the postseason.

Wisconsin (17-10, 10-6 Big Ten) is 4-2 in games decided by five-or-less points, but only the 56-54 home victory over Maryland involved the Badgers hitting a significant game-winning shot. That honor went to Brad Davison, although it shouldn’t be a surprise that Trice found him on the designed inbounds play.

“The biggest thing is mixing up what we do at the end of shot clock situations so it’s not always a ball screen at the end of the shot clock,” Trice said. “Other teams have scouted that and know it’s coming. Just get more actions that allow me to get downhill more, to space the floor a little bit more so there are more driving lanes, things like that to get into the lane to not only get my own shot but find other people. As we continue to progress, we’ve been working on that.”

Trice has missed chances to nail the coffin shut on teams and has viewed those moments as part of the growth process. One film he paid close attention to was the closing minutes of UW’s home game against Purdue.

Going against a team with considerable interior size, Trice was content to shoot mid-range jumpers and trying to create shots for himself or his teammates when he saw a mismatch. However, three times in the final 2 minutes, 30 seconds Trice couldn’t get his offense into attack mode.

After Purdue had cut the UW lead to 59-56, Trice was being hounded by guard Eric Hunter Jr. and was unable to get the ball inside to forward Nate Reuvers. After dribbling the ball back out near midcourt, Trice didn’t start attacking until there was eight seconds on the shot clock. He was fortunate that a switch put the bigger Trevion Williams on him and he could gain some separation. The attempt missed, and Trice was lucky that UW guard Brevin Pritzl secured an offensive rebound.

“I felt like the big was back off far enough and I’ve worked on that shot enough that I could take those shots,” Trice said. “Coaches really believe in me to make the right reads and make the right plays.”

The same thing happened on the next possession, with Williams switching on to Trice. With UW leading 61-59 with 1:41 remaining, Trice said the goal of the possession was to bleed some clock. With Williams on him, Trice kept the ball on the perimeter and didn’t attempt his 3-point shot until three seconds remained on the shot clock.

The short shot bounced right to Brad Davison (UW’s fourth consecutive possession with an offensive rebound) to reset the shot clock to 20 seconds instead of 30. Following a Wisconsin timeout, Trice said the goal was to simply look for the best shot instead of running its normal offense. That resulted in another 3-point attempt by Trice with Williams on him, an attempt that again drew front iron.

“I tried to do all different things that people on the outside might not see, but I think it was a learning experience to see what I can be at and what shots I can get,” Trice said. “I’ve definitely taken a lot from that … We got the win, so I’m excited about that, but I wish I would have knocked down those shots. I felt like they were open, the ones I felt comfortable taking. Maybe possibly getting into the lane would have helped.”

Gard mentioned post game that the Badgers needed to take better advantage of Wisconsin being in the double bonus. UW went 8-for-8 from the line in the final 30 seconds but attempted only four free throws in the roughly six minutes before that.

“When I look back on it, I don’t if there were a lot of opportunities (to drive),” Trice said. “I know there was a couple that I missed where could I have got downhill, but for the most part … I was more finding other guys or running the plays. There’s definitely going to be a lot more opportunities to do that with these last games we have.”

The good news for Trice is the Badgers have developed a plethora of options when they face Michigan (18-9, 9-7) Thursday night in Ann Arbor. Six Badgers – including Trice - currently average at least 8.1 points per game with four hauling in at least 4.2 rebounds per contest. UW’s players are also becoming more proficient from 3-point range, hitting double-digit 3-pointers in four consecutive games.

A year after feeling he needed to shoulder a chunk of the scoring burden, Trice knows the other four players on the floor are capable of delivery the scoring punch.

“Everybody is going uphill, and this is the perfect time to be doing that,” Trice said. “My confidence in guys to knock down shots, make the reads and find the right guys to hit is at an all-time high.”