Colgate Will Challenge Wisconsin's 3-Point Defense
MADISON, Wis. – It’s been 12 years since the University of Wisconsin lost to a mid-major opponent in the NCAA Tournament, but that team had the right recipe to pull an upset.
No.13 Cornell had a lineup full of seniors, dominated its conference on its way to the automatic bid, shot a lot of 3-pointers, and led the nation in 3-point percentage. It led the Big Red to an 87-69 victory over fourth-seed Wisconsin in Jacksonville, Fla., and is the same combination that Colgate will try to use to make history repeat.
When No.3-seed Wisconsin begins its NCAA Tournament run nearby at Fiserv Forum in downtown Milwaukee, the Badgers will try to buck history by surviving 14th-seed Colgate and its perimeter game.
The year Cornell became the first Ivy League school in 31 to make the Sweet 16, the Big Red had the Ivy League Player of the Year, shot a nation’s best 43.0 percent from the perimeter, and had five rotation players shoot over 39.1 percent from the perimeter.
Colgate’s resume is similar. The Raiders have the Patriot League tournament most valuable player instead of the regular-season player of the year in Jack Ferguson after averaging 20.7 points per game in the Raiders’ three tournament games.
The Raiders (23-11) finished second in NCAA Division-1 in 3-point field goal percentage, connecting at 40.3 percent. Senior guard Oliver Lynch-Daniels (.540) and junior guard Ryan Moffatt (.447) placed first and second in the League in individual 3-point field goal percentage, as the Raiders have five rotational players shooting 35.9 percent or better.
The Raiders rank ninth nationally in 3-pointers per game (9.9), have hit double-digit 3-pointers in 18 of their 34 games, and have shot 40 percent from three-point range in 20 games this season.
“They have the ability on the offensive end to fill it up from the three-point line with not only one guy or two guys, but usually with four guys on the floor at one time,” guard Brad Davison said. “Really talented players. We’re looking forward to the challenge on Friday.”
Centering their offense around two bigs in Keegan Records (64.5 FG percentage) and Jeff Woodward (51.4), Colgate is similar to Wisconsin in that the Raiders like to attack the lane, touch the post and kick the ball to the perimeter for open shots. As a result, the Raiders have an assist on 62 percent of their field goals.
“When you’re a good shooting team, typically you’re a good passing team,” UW coach Greg Gard said. “The ball moves really well. They don’t over-dribble it. They’ve got smart, old guys that have played a lot of basketball and have come up together with that core group for the most part.
“Four of the five on the floor all the time shoot it and shoot it really well. They don’t take bad ones. They just play. It’s kind of like watching a group of old guys at the YMCA that just school the heck out of the young guys … It looks like one of our drills watching them play.”
A strength of the Badgers this season has been running teams off the 3-point line. Wisconsin has allowed 592 three-point attempts this season and held teams to 32.3 percent, both second-lowest in the Big Ten. They also have held teams to an assist on just 46 percent of their baskets.
“We’ve been able to switch one through four when we need to, and I think we’ve done a pretty good job of shutting teams down from the three-point line for the most part,” forward Tyler Wahl said. “Hopefully our game doesn’t change, and we’ll keep doing the same things when it comes Friday.”
Unlike Colgate, three-point shooting has been a weakness for Wisconsin. A year after the Badgers finished fourth in the conference with a team percentage of 36.5, Wisconsin finished last in the league at 31.3 percent. Nationally, Wisconsin ranks 293rd in Division I perimeter shooting. In the 68-team tournament, the Badgers are the fifth-worst.
It’s a disparity that will put extra effort on Wisconsin’s defense to limit open shooters while remaining aggressive offensively.
“We want to stay aggressive, whether shots are falling or not,” Davison said. “I think going forward, you got to stay confident. You got to keep letting them fly no matter where you are at in the game … When the time comes, step up and knock them down.”
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