Few Things Coming Free From the Line for Wisconsin
Head coach Greg Gard didn’t have to look at the stat sheet in front of him to remember Wisconsin’s free throw numbers. There weren’t many of them, to begin with, and there weren’t a lot of them that went in either.
“We have to shoot better at the free-throw line,” Gard said. “Nine of 16 is unacceptable.”
In his eighth season leading the Badgers, Gard has had to play Captain Obvious on multiple occasions when talking about Wisconsin’s woes from the free-throw line.
The issues were glaring again at Welsh-Ryan Arena Monday following a 66-63 defeat to Northwestern. The Badgers (12-6, 4-4 Big Ten) shot 56.3 percent, the fourth straight game they have shot under 63 percent from the line and the fifth time in the last six games. UW’s team free throw percentage has dropped to 66.0 percent, 11th in the Big Ten.
On the other side, Northwestern shot 88.9 percent (16-for-18) to become the fifth straight UW opponent to shoot at least 72 percent from the line. In a three-point margin, those opportunities are magnified, especially when the Wildcats (22-for-51) narrowly outshot the Badgers (22-for-57).
Wisconsin hasn’t had a team shoot under 70 percent from the line since 2018-19, but that team’s 64.8 percentage comes with a caveat. UW had three players – Brevin Pritzl (83.3), Brad Davison (80.0), and D’Mitrik Trice (75.0) – shoot above 75 percent that season, but Ethan Happ was a 46.6 percent free-throw shooter on his 161 attempts.
UW only has one player over 75 percent (freshman Connor Essegian at 93.3) and five rotation players shooting below 70 percent – Max Klesmit (66.7), Tyler Wahl (63.9), Steven Crowl (58.9), Jordan Davis (58.3), and Carter Gilmore (38.5).
Against the Wildcats, UW’s top three scorers – Wahl (2 of 5), Crowl (2 of 4), and Chucky Hepburn (1 of 3) – all missed multiple free throws, four coming in the final six minutes.
"I feel like we are thinking a lot — we are trying not to miss," Wahl said. "We just have to go up there and shoot the ball. We have all made plenty of free throws in our lives. Guys have strung 20 or 25 of them in a row. We just have to go up there and know what we can make that.”
Almost as bad as missing them if Wisconsin isn’t getting many opportunities to make them. Heading into Wednesday’s game against Maryland (12-7, 3-5) at the Xfinity Center, the Badgers are averaging 14.4 free throw attempts per game, a number that ranks 330th out of 352 Division-1 teams.
Possessing a guard-oriented roster, UW’s four main guards have struggled to consistently drive into the lane and generate contact. UW has had at least one guard shoot a minimum of 90 free throws in a season in four of the last five years and is unlikely to get there this year with Hepburn (2.3 attempts per game), Essegian (1.7), Klesmit (1.5), and Davis (.67) being more spot-up shooters. Those four players have attempted 52.6 percent of their shots from the perimeter (287 of 546).
At their current pace, the Badgers will finish the season with 460 attempted free throws, over 160 fewer than last year and their fewest in a season since 1982-83, narrowing the margin for error on a team averaging just 61.3 points thus far in 2023.
“We all need to be better at that,” Davis said. “Me included. We have to work on that more and be confident at the line.”
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