Notes: Playing at Historically-Tough Mackey Doesn't Bother Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. – There were a lot of great options that the University of Wisconsin could have been selected to play in that would have sparked a host of great memories.

With the NCAA tournament being housed entirely in and around the city of Indianapolis this season, the Badgers could have played at Lucas Oil Stadium, where UW knocked off undefeated Kentucky in the national semifinals six years ago. UW could have played at Bankers Life Fieldhouse downtown, a venue that the program had won two of its three Big Ten championships.

Even playing at Indiana’s Assembly Hall down the road in Bloomington would have worked considering the Badgers won a share of the Big Ten regular season championship there last March.

But to be selected to play at Purdue’s Mackey Arena, where the program is 4-42 all time, that just seemed cruel. So, naturally, that’s where No.9 Wisconsin will open its NCAA tournament against No.8 North Carolina Friday.

Wisconsin (17-12) hasn’t won at Mackey Arena since a 72-58 victory in 2014. That includes a 73-69 defeat to No.23 Purdue on March 2. The Badgers put five players in double figures but shot just 40.4 percent from the floor and 7-for-29 from three-point range. Senior Micah Potter is the only player on UW’s roster to have won in the building, winning a 2018 road game when he played for Ohio State.

“It’s nice to have played there before, have the familiarity with the gym, with the rims, depth perception, all that stuff,” Potter said. “It’s definitely unique, considering circumstances we’re in of actually being able to play at a place like Purdue being from the Big Ten.”

Of the nine Big Ten teams who made the field, five - UW, Maryland, Michigan, Michigan State and Ohio State — will play its first game at Mackey Arena. That group went a combined 1-4 in the building, as No.1 seed Michigan was the only Big Ten team to win there.

Fortunately for the group, the Boilermakers won’t be the opponent.

“It definitely helps to have played there before,” Potter said. “In the history of Wisconsin, we have played Purdue (there) and not North Carolina and there were also, most of the time, lots of fans in the arena. When there’s fans in the arena, especially Purdue fans, it’s one of the best venues in the country.

“UNC is a good team, so regardless of how comfortable we are playing at Mackey, we still got to make sure we are prepared for UNC.”

While North Carolina’s biggest strength is its ability around the rim, one of the Tar Heels biggest weaknesses is from the perimeter. Carolina is shooting 31.7 percent as a team this season, but freshman Kerwin Walton is a threat.

Walton leads UNC with 56 three-pointers and three-point percentage at .415 (56 of 135). If that mark holds, Walton will have the highest three-point percentage by a UNC freshman in program history.

Walton is a familiar name for the Wisconsin coaching staff. A native of Minnesota, Walton was a four-star prospect out of high school and played with Wisconsin true freshmen Steven Crowl and Ben Carlson on the same AAU team.

“They know who Kerwin Walton is,” head coach Greg Gard said, “and so do we.”

UNC opponents have noticed, too. Walton is 14-for-45 shooting over his last seven games and has made multiple three pointers in just four of those games. UNC coach Roy Williams said teams have been closing harder defensively on Walton because of the lack of multiple outside shooting presences.

“We've got to look for him more, we’ve got to screen for him more, he’s got to move better,” Williams said. “As he gets older and more experienced, he’ll be able to do that better. But it's like I've always said, you need balance.”

Following Wisconsin’s 62-57 loss to Iowa in the conference tournament quarterfinals, D’Mitrik Trice pointed the finger at himself for a series of mistakes – on both ends of the court – that prevented the Badgers from advancing to the semifinals.

Never mind that he scored a team-high 19 points and played more minutes (38) than anyone. Trice pointed to bad defense and bad decisions with the ball in his hands that contributed to UW’s downfall.

“We’ve got to execute better down the stretch,” Trice said. “I made a few of those dumb turnovers. I can’t put that on other guys because the ball was in my hands and they were looking for me to make a play and I didn’t come up with it.”

Gard heard Trice’s comments and praised him for taking ownership of mistakes, but added he wasn’t the only one to blame for the issues down the stretch.

“Appreciate that and respect that on Meech’s part to take that ownership as a senior and as a point guard and one of the leaders of our team,” Gard said. “But he should not shoulder that all on himself.”

The only Wisconsin player honored by the Big Ten this month when he was selected to the third team by the coaches and media, Trice leads Wisconsin in scoring (13.7), minutes played (33.1) and has more than twice as many assists (116) as turnovers (50). His shooting percentage has also improved from last season, shooting 41.1 percent from the field and 38.0 percent from three-point range. The perimeter number is the best among UW’s five starters.

Wisconsin heads into Friday as a 1.5-point underdog. The Badgers are 3-7 straight up and 3-6-1 against the spread in the last 10 games, but throw those numbers out the window, says senior Brad Davison.

“Everyone is even now,” he said. “Everything we’ve been through, whether we’ve won or we’ve lost, how old people are, how many shots you’ve made, how many points you average, you have to throw it all out the window now. It’s 40 minutes, two 20-minute halves. Whosever day it is, that’s what makes it March. That’s what makes it so much fun to be a part of.”