Greg Gard, Wisconsin players believe they can and will reach another level

Even the most optimistic projections likely did not have Wisconsin at 10-2 in January with the non-conference slate behind them.

Despite the strong start, it's hard to feel that the Badgers have played a complete game or their best basketball yet this season. Any way you split the 10-2 start, there are more positives than negatives to speak of. And yet, there is reason to believe the group can still be better.

"I think for every team around this time of the year, you're kind of learning what you got with all the freshmen, the transfers," junior forward Steven Crowl said a few days before the team was scheduled to match up with Grambling State.

"We're still trying to put it together and piece it together through all these games and all these experiences, so I think there's another level we can get to and hopefully we can get there."

Head coach Greg Gard didn't mince any words when asked about a potential next level for the team.

"There better be," Gard said. "We have to be. There's no doubt we have to continue to get better."

With UW getting conference play truly underway Tuesday night against Minnesota, Gard's group won't have time to waste. After the bout with the Gophers, the team begins a stretch of three games in eight days, beginning with a road contest against Illinois before returning home to play Michigan State with two days rest. They then hit he road to play Indiana four days later.

Outside of the Minnesota, which is ranked as the 199th best team by KenPom, each of the next four opponents are ranked in the top 50.

"We're going in the right direction but we still have a lot of stuff to work on, I think offensively and defensively," Jordan Davis said. "Defensively especially because I know in the Lehigh game especially, that first (half) wasn't really looking too good and we struggled defensively. So we have to clean that up if we want to push to where we want to go this season."

The offense has clicked so far this year. From beyond the arc, UW has hit 10 or more threes in six games this season. That's a mark the group hit just five times all of last season.

The team has generally been efficient, having scored 75 or more points in five of the last six games. During that stretch, the team is averaging 75.2 points per contest. The success on that end comes after a lull in which Wisconsin averaged 53.0 points per game in wins over Stanford, Green Bay and Dayton.

In its two most recent wins - decisions over Lehigh and Western Michigan - the final tally indicates a double-digit margin. Yet against Lehigh, the Badgers were looking at one-point deficit and against the Broncos, the group only held a two-point lead in a game it was favored to win by 20.

In both contests, UW tallied 47 points in the second half and outscored both schools by a combined 31 to pull away.

"The one thing I would say is probably getting off to better starts," Crowl said. "Like I said against Lehigh and a couple other teams this year, we've gotten off to slower starts. So just coming out and throwing the first punch is going to be big for us in some of these bigger games coming up."

"We've kind of started slow in some games and we want to throw the first punch. I think we haven't really done that this season," Crowl added.

There is plenty to like about the start through 12 games, and it's fair to have more optimism as Big Ten play resumes.

"I think I've seen some guys - even in practice today - Kamari McGee, every time he comes over with me on my side of the floor, with the rotational group, there is another step. Markus Ilver, it's some of the same things. We've seen Gilmore has done and the steps that he's made," Gard said.

"We have to get better. There's not an option not to and that can come in a variety of ways. Whether that's the guys that are giving 30-plus minutes a game or guys that are still trying to crack their way into the consistent rotation."

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