Struggling against Top Big Ten Forwards, Wisconsin Now Faces Luka Garza
MADISON, Wis. – In nearly two months of Big Ten play, the University of Wisconsin has seen firsthand the young post talent in the league.
Tonight, the 21st-ranked Badgers (15-7, 9-6 Big Ten) will see the oldest and likely get a good idea why Iowa’s Luka Garza is one of the best frontcourt players in college basketball.
“Garza is everything he is made out to be,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said.
There are a lot of talented pieces that surrounded the 6-11 senior, but Garza’s presence is the key factor as to why No.11 Iowa (15-6, 9-5) ranks first nationally in KenPom’s adjusted offensive efficiency. Whether teams try to double him in the post or risk single coverage, Garza still finds a way to produce, ranking first in the country in points per game (24.5 ppg) and 14th in double-doubles (9).
Garza has scored 501 points against AP Top 25 teams, the most of any player since the start of the 2019-20 season and reached 2,000 points in 113 games, faster than any other Big Ten player over the last 25 years. The only Big Ten player to reach the milestone faster was Wisconsin’s Michael Finley, who accomplished the feat in 107 games.
“He’s really tough, and he’s really big and hard to get off the block,” senior Nate Reuvers said of Garza. “The main thing is to not let him catch that ball deep (in the post), which is really hard to do. He’s really good at using his body. If you’re using your hands, he’s really good at making it look like you’re fouling him and getting those calls. It’s a lot of work. You’ve got to be digging in.”
Dealing with talented post players is nothing new in the Big Ten, but unlike most seasons where the best post players are savvy veterans, the best teams in the league this season (Illinois, Michigan, Ohio State) are led by young forwards.
To this point, those young stars have got the better of Wisconsin and its senior forwards. Ohio State sophomore E.J. Liddell – listed as a 6-7 forward – scored a game-high 20 points and added seven rebounds in the Buckeyes’ 12-point victory in Madison, while Illinois’ 7-0 sophomore Kofi Cockburn made it look easy with 23 points on 10-for-13 shooting, including seven dunks and 14 rebounds.
In two games against Wisconsin, Michigan’s 7-0 freshman Hunter Dickinson averaged 11.5 points and 10.5 rebounds. On Sunday, Dickinson turned four offensive rebounds in the final 6:38 into nine points. Those plays were labeled as “back breakers” by the Badgers in the 67-59 loss, a game in which Micah Potter and Reuvers finished with zero rebounds in a combined 40 minutes.
Now the Badgers get Garza, who averages 3.0 offensive rebounds per game (better than Dickinson at 2.5 per game) and has grabbed at least 10 rebounds in nine of 21 games this season.
“That’s obviously his game; he likes to be physical, and you just got to match it,” Potter said. “If you don’t match it, he’ll take advantage of you. You got to be physical from the start, understand that from the start that he’ll constantly be looking for duck-ins and when he gets it inside he’s going to pivot, he’s going to pump fake, he’s going to use his body and he’s going to try to bully you.
“When it comes to offensive rebounding, you got to get a body, but you got to do a lot more than just box out. Make sure we’re staying aggressive on that front and not just trying to box him out and take him out of the game because that doesn’t work very well.”
While starting together for the first 13 games of the season, Gard has rarely played Reuvers and Potter on the court at the same time over the previous nine (the duo didn’t log any time on the court together Sunday). Part of the reason is very few teams are using a two-big lineup, which means the Badgers need to have more mobility on the floor defensively to guard ball screens, deal with switches and dribble penetration.
It’s why sophomore Tyler Wahl has started at the “4” since Jan.15 and Reuvers and Potter have each seen starts at the “5,” something the analytics have backed up with the Badgers being better with offensive points per possessions, defensive points per possession and rebounding percentage with a more mobile lineup.
UW is 5-4 since the lineup switch but the Badgers could go bigger if Iowa pairs Garza with forward Jack Nunge (45 offensive rebounds), forward Keegan Murray (37) , forward Joe Wieskamp (26) or forward Connor McCaffery (20).
Either way, fresh legs might be the only way to stop Garza and the Hawkeyes’ lineup from catching the ball on the low block for easy looks around the rim.
“No excuses, you just got to be mentally tougher,” Potter said. “Your aggressiveness has got to stay up, regardless of your circumstances. You have to stay aggressive. You have to stay mentally locked in. You have to be physically locked in … Mentally, we just have to be locked in for a full 40 minutes.”