Takeaways from Wisconsin's 105-76 Victory Over Arkansas State

MADISON, Wis. – If Chucky Hepburn has his way, Monday night won’t be the last record-breaking night Wisconsin men’s basketball has this season.

“We knew going in that we’re going to be able to score,” Hepburn said, “and get what we wanted offensively.”

While the point total will be hard to duplicate, especially with the challenging schedule in the weeks to come, the once-plodding Badgers delivering a 105-76 victory over Arkansas State to open the college basketball season is definitely an eyebrow-raiser.

The Badgers shot 65 percent from the floor (the fourth-best mark in school history), scored 56 points in the paint, and got point production from 12 different players on a night where UW broke the century mark for the first time since December 2018, setting a new Kohl Center scoring record in the process.

Here are my takeaways from the season opener.

Wisconsin finished a respectable fifth in the Big Ten in perimeter shooting, finishing at 34.2 percent from 3-point range and averaging 23.1 attempts per game. The Badgers return 92 percent of their scoring from that team but game one was an indicator that the points could be registered differently.

Ten of the 12 players who rotated in for Wisconsin during the first half scored, nine of which scored at least one basket in the paint. Of Wisconsin’s 22 first-half baskets, the Badgers scored 36 points in the lane. Drawing 12 fouls, Wisconsin went 12-for-18 from the free-throw line (more attempts than it had in 22 of 35 games last season).

Without the benefit of a made three-point basket, the Badgers put up their highest first-half point total (56) since scoring 69 against Savannah State on Dec.13, 2018. That was also the last time UW cracked the century mark before Monday night.

Wisconsin finished with 56 points in the paint and another 21 on 30 free-throw attempts that came in part because the Badgers got the ball inside against Arkansas State's guard-dominated lineup. UW shot 65.0 percent overall and averaged a robust 1.346 points on its 78 possessions, making good use of its quicker tempo.

The Badgers had to be reliant on a perimeter game last season due to a lack of size in the frontcourt. That issue appeared to be rectified with the additions of A.J. Storr, Nolan Winter and even guard John Blackwell.

Storr continued to do what he did in every game setting throughout fall camp by generating offense at the rim. Winter was a fixture around the rim and was rewarded for it, covering all three of his layup attempts and securing a team-high seven rebounds.

Head coach Greg Gard has sung Blackwell’s praises since the freshman had a rough performance in the team’s Red-White Scrimmage (2-for-8, 1 turnover) and did so again after the point guard went 3-for-3 from the floor, 5-for-7 from the free-throw line and drew four fouls.

“I just let the game come to me, didn’t force anything,” Blackwell said. “I don’t think I took a dribble for my points but it was catch-and-shoot, cutting back door, simple stuff I didn’t do in high school. I was mostly ball dominant but coming here I learned you can score without the ball.”

The 3-point shot will still be one of its weapons though. When Arkansas State started switching more to try and slow penetration, the Badgers went 3-for-3 from the perimeter to open a 25-point lead. The Badgers finished 6-for-12 from 3-point range, an attempts number that would tie last year’s season low.

“(The post scoring) caused a lot of chaos with them in the first half in terms of our guards being able to cut hard, get to the block, and score inside,” said guard Max Klesmit, who scored 14 points on a perfect 5-for-5 shooting. “That’s going to open up stuff for our fives down on the block, as well. Just making an effort to get there, attack the rim early, get to the free throw line, opens up all the options for us once our guards start getting down there and being physical.”

A lightning rod for criticism for his shot selection a year ago, especially in crunch situations, Hepburn finished with a team-high 20 points and grew stronger as the game progressed. It was the other things beyond his point total, however, that stood out to his coach and his teammates.

For starters, Hepburn finished with six assists and three steals against only two turnovers. In the first half, Hepburn helped the offense funnel through Storr, who scored a team-high 11 points on eight shot attempts.

“I noticed that I get going by easing my way into it,” Hepburn said. “Last year, I tried to force way too much, especially early in the game. I just got to let things flow, get the offense going.”

“The defense expects me to be a main scorer, but I’m just a facilitator first. When the defense lightens up, I get that feeling that I’m able to attack, catch them off guard, and get downhill. That’s why I feel a lot better this year. I’m more athletic, quicker, can get by defenders, and finish at the rim.”

When foul trouble started affecting forwards Tyler Wahl and Steven Crowl, Gard used a lineup that consisted of Hepburn, Storr, forwards Markus Ilver and Nolan Winter, and guard Isaac Lindsey. Hepburn immediately found Winter for a layup and fed Lindsey for a 3-pointer on consecutive possessions to boost UW’s lead.

“I thought his leadership and his voice on the floor was really good,” Gard said.

More experienced and having more trust in the improved weapons around him, Hepburn slowed a glimpse that he could be in line for a big bounce-back season.

Taking over a program that finished in the bottom tier of the Sun Belt last season, first-year coach Bryan Hodgson is bringing a winning tempo with him. An assistant at Alabama, which was a No.1 seed in last year’s NCAA Tournament with an offense that averaged 72.6 possessions per game (fourth fastest in the nation), Hodgson saw his new team score 112 points in 71 possessions in a pair of exhibition games.

The Red Wolves entered the year with a veteran squad like Wisconsin, possessing a roster that had a combined 791 games played with 337 career starts. That group struggled against the Badgers' defenders.

Arkansas State got 79 possessions, but the Red Wolves averaged less than one point per possession in each half and managed only 16 fast-break points. Arkansas State did get to the rim (17-for-28 on layups and 40 points in the paint), but UW cut off the perimeter game in limiting the Red Wolves to 4-for-21 and forced 17 turnovers to only seven assists.

“They are just really, really disciplined. That is as well coached as I’ve coached against,” Hodgson said. “They don’t gamble … They’ve got a lot of different pieces to do several different things defensively.”

It was a little more muddled in the second half. Wisconsin was whistled for 13 fouls (five fouls in the first 3:28), and sent the Red Wolves to the line 19 times in the final 20 minutes, but were able to cut down on the layups and transition as the game progressed.

“At times we maybe got a little spread out, but it was the first time really seeing a team that attacks you off the dribble,” Gard said. “I thought we got better in the second half.”

Connor Essegian was injured with 6:29 remaining in the first half when he took the full force of a low-post foul. Appearing to injure his lower back, Essegian stayed on the court for several minutes before walking off on his own power. He rode an exercise bike for the remainder of the first half and was listed as questionable but ultimately did not return.

As a result, Lindsey and Blackwell got more minutes and represented 20 of UW’s 39 bench points, with seven reserves scoring before Gard emptied the bench. The most UW got from its bench all last season was 24 points in a November game against Dayton.

“We thought that the depth would help us,” Gard said. “Here we are, game one, and it already showed.”

“It’s nice to know that I can go to a Markus Ilver and a Lindsey and a (Kamari) McGee and a Blackwell and a Winter and a (Carter) Gilmore. They just keep going on the bench,” Gard added. “Guys are ready to contribute. That’s the start of a good team when you have that many guys who are willing to help us out.”

22.5 - Wisconsin is a perfect 8-0 in home openers under Gard, winning by an average of 22.5 points per game.

104 - The Badgers set a Kohl Center scoring record, surpassing the previous high set by Kansas in a 104-86 win over Oregon in the 2002 NCAA Tournament. UW's previous scoring high at home was 103 points against North Dakota in 2013.

65.0 - Wisconsin's 65.0 shooting percentage (39-for-60) was the fourth-best shooting percentage in program history, trailing 74.4 percent vs. Army (1979), 68.7 vs. Northern Illinois (1984) and 66.7 vs. New Mexico (1984).

1 - Storr's 15 points are the most by a non-freshman in his UW debut since at least 2000. He is just the 4th such Badger to score in double digits since at least 2000 (Zak Morley - 12, Micah Potter - 12, Max Klesmit - 11).

3 - Blackwell's 12 points are the third most by a UW freshman in their debut, trailing the 21 points from Josh Gasser in 2010 and the 13 points from Hepburn in 2021.

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