Preview: Wisconsin vs. No. 12 Houston in the Maui Invitational semifinal
Wisconsin (3-1, 0-0) vs. No. 12 Houston (4-0, 0-0)
Game: Tuesday, Nov. 23 inside the Michelob Ultra Arena
Time: 4:00 PM (CT)
Watch: ESPN
Listen: 1310 WIBA AM and 101.5 FM (Matt Lepay and Mike Lucas on the call); stream online on iHeartRadio
Prediction: Houston 79, Wisconsin 62
Follow Online: The Badgers' Den
Twitter: @Badger_Blitz
PRE-GAME NOTES
After a comeback victory over Texas A&M on Monday, Wisconsin heads into a matchup with Houston in the semifinals of the Maui Invitational. The Cougars are coming off a season in which they made the Final Four before falling to Baylor, the eventual champion.
In the first round of this week's tournament, Houston opened up a 20-3 lead on its way to a convincing 70-52 win over Butler. The victory improved the Cougars' record to 4-0, which also included a 20-point decision over Virginia.
Kelvin Sampson's squad lost four of their top five leading scorers from a season ago but still boast a talented group. Most notably, the Cougars added Kyler Edwards, an experienced wing from Texas Tech. His addition, along with a significant leap from Marcus Sasser, have propelled Houston to its hot start.
Known for a style of defense that presses, the Cougars forced 20 turnovers against Butler. On the offensive end, Fabian White Jr. is another option for the explosive group. The 6-foot-8 forward led the Cougars in scoring with 21 points and is a big who can shoot the three well and stretch the floor.
Wisconsin, which was down 16 points on Monday, bounced back due to its play on the defensive end. The return of Jonathan Davis also paid off big time as the sophomore poured in a career-high 21 points to lead the way for the Badgers.
“I saw the same fight that I saw in the Providence game,” Davis said. “We were down by 16 in the first half and the way these guys battle back defensively, even when our shots weren’t falling, just really proud of how we all played.”
With guard Jahcobi Neath likely out, look for Carter Gilmore and Jordan Davis to once again be a part of the rotation. Davis spotted a solid six minutes for Greg Gard and added some shooting to a group that has struggled from deep.
“I sensed with a lot of our guys, it’s the first experience that we had a little bit of a deer-in-a-headlight look," Gard added. "They’ve watched Maui – even though we’re not in Maui – on TV growing up, so I thought it took a little bit for some of our guys to settle in, calm down and understand it’s still just basketball. We need to try to do the things we’ve been practicing, try to play to our identity. When we do that, good things happen.”
Against Houston, the Badgers can't afford to get behind big as they did against Texas A&M. They will also need to limit possessions and play at their own pace in order to counter the Cougars' athleticism. In any case, especially against a top-15 team, this is about as good as it gets for a young team to learn and continue to take steps.
Tuesday marks the third all-time meeting between the two programs with the series split at one game apiece. The matchup will be the first meeting since 1965.
| Pos. | Wisconsin | HT/WT | Pts. | Reb. | Ast. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
G |
Chucky Hepburn (Fr.) |
6-2, 211 |
7.0 |
2.0 |
1.3 |
|
G |
Brad Davison (Sr.) |
6-4, 200 |
16.8 |
5.8 |
1.8 |
|
W |
Jonathan Davis (So.) |
6-5, 194 |
17.0 |
5.7 |
3.0 |
|
F |
Tyler Wahl (Jr.) |
6-9, 221 |
7.3 |
4.5 |
1.0 |
|
F |
Steven Crowl (So.) |
7-0, 234 |
10.8 |
5.8 |
1.0 |
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| Pos. | Houston | HT/WT | Pts. | Reb. | Ast. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
G |
Marcus Sasser (Jr.) |
6-2, 195 |
23.3 |
3.3 |
4.0 |
|
G |
Kyler Edwards (Sr.) |
6-4, 195 |
15.3 |
6.3 |
1.3 |
|
G |
Taze Moore (Gr.) |
6-5, 195 |
6.3 |
5.0 |
2.3 |
|
F |
Fabian White Jr. (Gr.) |
6-8, 230 |
7.0 |
4.7 |
2.0 |
|
F |
Reggie Chaney (Sr.) |
6-8, 230 |
6.0 |
2.0 |
0.0 |
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