MADISON, Wis. – Eight games into their only season starting together, University of Wisconsin seven-footers Steven Crowl and Nolan Winter like what the early returns have produced.
After rarely appearing together on the court last season, the pair are finding a rhythm working off each other. Winter leads the Badgers in rebounding at 5.6 points per game while Crowl leads UW in averaging 3.5 assists per contest. They have also combined for seven of UW’s 17 blocks.
With neither tasked with carrying the scoring burden, November’s undefeated streak has made the kickstart to the season enjoyable.
“It feels like no one cares about stats,” Crowl said. “Nobody cares who scores, nobody cares who gets the rebound, the assist. We just want to win and are playing for the guy next to us. Coaches have done a great job of implementing different things to help us score a lot of points. We don’t care. We just want to win, and it’s really fun to see.”
The hot start has made some growing pains easier for both players. Winter played fewer than 15 minutes in consecutive games against Arizona and UTRGV when he struggled to guard quicker guards or undersized post players. Despite leading the front court in minutes played (25.0 per game), Crowl has been held to single digits seven times and has been plagued by point-blank misses around the rim.
“More so than anything, it goes back to me wanting to be better,” Crowl said. “I just got to finish. I’ve had some bunnies that I’ve missed. There are certain things that go into the point aspect that I don’t care about. I just want to do whatever I can out there, whether it’s rebounding, finding my teammates who are great cutters and scorers to make it easier on me.”
“I know there is going to be games where I need to score and be better. I’ll be better for sure.”
The statement will be tested tonight when No.11 Wisconsin (8-0) opens Big Ten play against Michigan (6-1), which boasts its two 7-footers in junior Danny Wolf and graduate Vladislav Goldin.
Wolf averages 10.9 points and a team-best 9.9 rebounds. His three double-doubles lead the team, including a 20-point, 14-rebound performance in Michigan’s win over No.22 Xavier in the championship of the FT. Myers Tip-Off.
Transferring from Florida Atlantic after Michigan hired his coach, Dusty May, Goldin has posted two double-figure scoring games over his last three games and leads Michigan with 13 blocks, with Wolf close behind with 10.
“Being big is a little more formidable and a little more common (in the Big Ten)," head coach Greg Gard said. "The game goes through ebbs and flows. There are times where playing two bigs is an advantage. There are times where it’s not an advantage. With Michigan, they’re big and Wolf is really skilled. He’s like a 7-foot point guard handling the ball.”
It’s a pending matchup both Winter and Crowl have said they prefer, defending and backing down 7-footers compared to undersized forwards. It’s also a matchup that Crowl and Winter haven’t fully exploited.
Crowl and Winter each had standout games in Saturday’s victory over Chicago State. After averaging 12 points and 6.5 rebounds in the Greenbrier Tip-Off, Winter had 12 points (4-for-4) and six rebounds against the Cougars. Crowl tallied nine points, seven rebounds, five assists and matched his career-high with three blocks.
Despite the size advantage, neither set the other up for points, only when Crowl found Winter for a layup on the game’s fourth possession that one had an assist on the other’s bucket.
“After two 7-footers out there is definitely a mismatch for opposing teams now,” Winter said. “Being able to get in the post with both of us, being able to rebound the ball, which we both agree we can do a little better at, looking for each other on the high-lows for sure. We’ve been talking about that. Having two 7-footers out there, it’s tough to guard. We got to keep finding each other.”
One thing that is already in lockstep is their relationship. Winter said Crowl brings a “sense of calmness” when he’s on the floor. After playing with an undersized four last season in Tyler Wahl, Crowl acknowledged a burden being lifted of having another 7-footer take some of the low-post beatings.
It was a large reason Crowl, one of only four players in the country with 100+ career starts at the same school, never entertained putting his name in the transfer portal to test the free market.
“I knew I wanted to be here,” Crowl said. “I didn’t want to go anywhere else for my fifth year. I knew the grass wasn’t always greener, and that goes back to the culture that has been set here. I knew we had one of the best cultures in the country. It’s been one of the most fun seasons I’ve had so far, and I wouldn’t trade it for anything.”
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