Five Badgers takeaways from Wisconsin's 72-34 win over Green Bay

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin basketball’s best offense has always been its ability to defend, one of the main challenges head coach Greg Gard and his staff have tried to instill in the bounty of newcomers on the roster since the first summer workouts. Friday was evidence that the message is getting across.

It’s not often a team can shoot 37.5 percent and cruise to a victory, but that’s exactly what Wisconsin did in an emphatic 72-34 victory over Green Bay Friday.

Here are five takeaways from the Kohl Center.

Defense Does The Trick

Green Bay head coach Will Ryan admitted it was challenging for his team to simulate all the height Wisconsin brought to the floor last season with 7-footers and 6-10 shooters galore. Even with an overhaul of the starting lineup and the rotation, it was the same problem for Ryan one year later.

“We can’t simulate that in practice,” Ryan said. “I wish we could … They locked their jaw (and) got after it defensively.”

Wisconsin’s defense suffocated Green Bay from start to finish, holding them to 23.5 percent shooting and 12 field goals. Not reaching 10 made baskets as a team until 4:41 remained in the game, Green Bay didn’t have a player score over five points and finished with the fourth-lowest shooting percentage by a UW opponent in the history of the Kohl Center.

“In the first two games, and over the course of the fall and the preseason, we’ve been trying to find our identity, and I think we found that our identity is on the defensive side of the ball,” guard Brad Davison said. “Our ability to apply, but also stay solid and disciplined has been great the first two games. We’ve got to continue to build on it.”

Holding St. Francis Brooklyn to 39.7 percent shooting in Tuesday's opener, Davison said the improvement from game one to game two came from initial ball pressure. He signaled out freshman Chucky Hepburn’s ability to get into the face of Green Bay’s ball handlers. Hepburn only had three points on 1-for-5 shooting but he registered four of the team’s 10 steals.

“He widens their offense,” Davison said of Hepburn, “so they (Green Bay) not making catches where they want them.”

The Badgers also were improved guarding ball screens and taking away pick-and-roll opportunities at the rim. The Phoenix only scored 12 of their 34 points in the paint and just nine second-chance points, having three field-goal droughts over four minutes in the first half and two in the second half, one going over eight minutes.

Green Bay’s 34 points were the fewest points allowed in the Gard era and the fewest since allowing 31 in a win over Northern Kentucky on Nov. 14, 2014.

“This group understands that it takes all of us,” Gard said. “Our strength is in our numbers. It’s not a cliché that we all have to be in this together.”

Crowl Growing His Game

Of all the players Green Bay had trouble containing, it was the biggest one that gave them the most problems. Sophomore Steven Crowl backed up his 11 points and 8 rebounds from Tuesday to flirt with another double-double, finishing with 18 points, seven rebounds, and no turnovers in nearly 22 minutes on the court.

The offense came in spurts, scoring seven straight points in a two-minute stretch midway through the first half, as UW started to pull away, and another seven before the first media timeout in the second half. He hit two of the team’s five 3-pointers, as well, showing an ability to extend the offense and put his name down as UW’s next outside-shooting big man.

“Offensively he’s so versatile,” Davison said of Crowl. “Not only is he great around the rim, and going with great touch and feel, but his ability to stretch the floor, pick-and-pop … and his ability to pass really sets him apart. We can find him at the top of the key. We can find him in the post. We can throw it back and he can run the offense and draw a lot of attention.”

In the early sample size of the season, Crowl is averaging 14.5 points and 7.5 rebounds but it’s his ability to hedge ball screens and defend all over the halfcourt has been an early standout. When Wisconsin was preparing for North Carolina in the first round of the NCAA Tournament last spring, Crowl was unguardable in the low post when the Badgers were working on trapping the post. That snippet has translated well thus far.

“He’s so cerebral with the game.,” Gard said. “He understands it on both ends of the floor … The game comes very naturally to him. He’s very instinctive, but he also has picked up some things defensively. It’s a hard position to learn when you’re in that many ball screens, but he has done a good job understanding the concepts and growing.”

Davison Drops Jumpers

There weren’t many players in the country who struggled shooting the ball more than Brad Davison last season. Finishing the season at 34.6 percent overall, Davison’s numbers from the 2-point range were a mindboggling 38-for-102. It got to the point where Davison scoffed over Zoom calls when the shooting issues were brought up on a routine basis as UW treaded water throughout Big Ten play.

Through two games, the shooting is being seen in a more positive light. Although he went 1-for-4 from 2-point range in the opener, Davison hit all four of his attempted twos and 5-for-8 overall for 15 points against Green Bay, moving into 18th place on the school’s all-time scoring list.

Davison likes to keep the focus more on the team than himself but said he put “a lot of time” into improving different aspects of his game throughout the summer. One was his shooting, a routine that Gard and others take notice of.

“He’s in the gym early in the morning,” Gard said. “I think he has a 6 a.m. routine. He’s in 500 shots a day, even during the season, plus what we do in practice. We started this year charting every single drill we do. He’s shooting it, even in drills, at an unbelievable rate.

“I know you’ll say, ok, but that’s with no defense on you. When we get on 5-on-5, it translates. He just puts a lot of time in. It’s a lot of work and you’ve got to continue to work at it, fine tune it, stay the course, and not get discouraged if you’ve had a rough night … He’s paid a price and puts a lot of time in making himself a good shooter.”

More Experience Generated

After playing 15 guys against St. Francis Brooklyn Tuesday, Gard was able to empty his bench for a second straight game (Jahcobi Neath did not play with a lower-body injury). Ben Carlson led the bench with five points in over 18 minutes, but Lorne Bowman (15:16), Carter Gilmore (14:19), Chris Vogt (12:43), Markus Ilver (10:44), and Jordan Davis (6:32) all received sizeable minutes in the second half.

“Everybody works extremely hard on this team,” Gard said. “Weight room, all the effort they put in the offseason. To reward them and also help them grow … for all these guys to get minutes, to get experience, in the long run will hopefully help us.”

Bo Ryan Honored at Halftime

Making his first official appearance at the Kohl Center since he coached his last game in December 2015, Wisconsin head coach Bo Ryan was honored with a video tribute honoring his 14 seasons coaching with the Badgers. He then walked to center court with his wife Kelly and thanked the thousands of people who have supported or been a part of the program.

“You all have a piece of all the success these teams have experienced,” Ryan said.

Earlier in the day, following Green Bay’s shootaround, Ryan was awarded a plaque on the Kohl Center concourse floor with both teams present. UW also played video messages from former players Jon Leuer and Devin Harris during media timeouts.