MADISON, Wis. – A young squad high on guards and limited on forwards showed that Wisconsin isn’t going to be afraid to shoot open perimeter shots during the 2022-23 season. The group also proved that the Badgers’ tried-and-true offensive formula of playing out of the low post works pretty well, too.

The Badgers put four starters in double figures to break the game open in the second half for an 85-59 victory over South Dakota at the Kohl Center.

Closing the game as 12.5-point favorites over a team picked to finish third in the Summit League, the Badgers were in a little bit of a grind in the first half until Chucky Hepburn hit a buzzer-beating three-pointer to give them a 10-point lead entering the locker room. It was the ninth three-pointer of the half for UW and a huge momentum boost.

“That was a big swing – we got a stop and three,” forward Tyler Wahl. “That’s a five, six-point difference right there. That’s a big swing going into the half and set the tone for the second part of the game.”

Here are my takeaways from Monday’s season opener.

Wisconsin somehow managed to win 25 games and a Big Ten title last season in spite of the fact the Badgers shot 30.6 percent from 3-point range. Returning players don’t need to be reminded what can happen when the three-point shot stops falling, as the Badgers were eliminated from the 2022 NCAA Tournament shooting 2-for-22 from the perimeter.

So, to see the Badgers make nine three-pointers in the first half (from five different shooters) was equal parts exciting and nerve-racking when they went just 4-for-13 from inside the arc and 3-for-5 from the free throw line.

South Dakota head coach Eric Peterson acknowledged that they had to pick your poison guarding an inside-outside team like Wisconsin, choosing to double the post nearly every possession in the first half and then pivoting to more one-on-one in the second half in hopes of eliminating the three-pointer.

“I probably would have done the same thing,” head coach Greg Gard said of South Dakota’s defense in the first half. “If you have a size disadvantage, you try to get the ball out of there as fast as you can. It’s something we’ve continued to work on because we’ve seen it before. Some of the spacing and cutting around it, I thought a couple times where he too many guys run to the dunker spot, and we stepped on top of each other.”

UW’s second half was more traditional when the lane opened. The Badgers hit their first four interior looks, including four straight plays to the rim that were missing in the first half. UW only hit 3-for-11 three-pointers in the second half but finished 12-for-26 from three, tying the most made three-pointers UW made a season ago.

“Can (the three-pointer) be a weapon of this team? Yes. Do I think this team can shoot threes better? Yes. Do I want to completely rely on it all the time? No.” Gard said. “That’s why getting to the foul line, playing inside out, taking care of the ball, all those things because even the best three-point shooting teams go through nights or times where they struggle a little bit.

“I don’t want to be solely dependent on it. This group, because of how we are made up, can be something we’re going to have to use. For the most part, you have guys who are very capable of shooting it if they take the right ones.”

The Coyotes were 22nd nationally in 3-point shooting last season at 37.3 percent, so it wasn’t a shock to hear the Badgers – who admittedly still have a way to grow defensively – made contesting perimeter shots and denying space behind the line a priority. They did that successfully, holding the Coyotes to 0-for-7 in the first half and 2-for-15 in the game.

The trade-off was the Badgers gave up some driving lanes to Kruz Perrott-Hunt, South Dakota’s leading scorer a year ago who surpassed his 15.8 ppg from 2021-22 with his 17 points in the first half. A lot of the damage was done by attacking the lane and hitting jump shots. UW changed some things in the ball screen defense in the second half to better results on Perrott-Hunt (2-for-6).

“He was getting to his right hand a lot, and we were letting him get to his right hand,” Hepburn said. “He was hitting tough shots, but we let him get going because he was getting to his dominant hand. In the second half, we changed the emphasis and made him go left and he couldn’t do anything.”

Wisconsin will face a lot of talented guards in the months ahead, including Stanford’s Michael Jones on Friday night at American Family Field. The first graduate transfer in program history made a stellar debut for the Cardinal in Monday’s win over Pacific, scoring a career-high 31 points. He was 9-for-15 from the floor to help Stanford shoot 60 percent, as well as going 10-for-12 from the free-throw line.

Shoring up gaps in defense against hot shooters will be vital to UW’s defensive success.

Fifteen of Wisconsin’s 16 rostered players played in the opener, not surprising considering the winning margin was 26 points (walk-on Luke Haertle did not see the floor). Saying he had a deep team fighting for minutes in the preseason, Gard rotated in 10 players in the first half and saw all of them log at least eight minutes on the court, with forward Chris Hodges and guard Isaac Lindey playing five.

UW started Jordan Davis and Max Klesmit around established starters Hepburn, Wahl, and Steven Crowl. Forward Carter Gilmore and guard Jahcobi Neath were the first substitutions of the game coming in for Crowl and Davis, respectively. Guards Connor Essegian and Kamari McGee and forward Markus Ilver were the next three.

UW returns just 52.3 percent of minutes played and 44.1 percent of its scoring from last season, a bulk of which came from its top two scorers in guards Johnny Davis and Brad Davison. For Wisconsin to get scoring 11 players, nine of who are firmly entrenched in the rotation at this point is encouraging.

“It’s always good to get one (game) under your belt,” Gard said. “Get the feel of a game that really counts, really matters. Everybody gave us something at some point in time … It’s going to take everybody. It’s a group that has some depth and we have to use that to our advantage.”

Wahl’s junior season was partially overshadowed by the brilliance of Davis, but the Minnesota native finished third on the team in scoring, second in rebounding and blocks, and first in steals. Wahl will have to continue to wear all those same hats while having the willingness to take over games. The opener was a prime example.

Quieter in the first half by scoring only two points on three shots with no free throws, Wahl was active with seven rebounds, three assists, a steal, and a block. He came out attacking in the second half, especially the low block and was rewarded by scoring nine points in the first 5+ minutes to increase UW’s lead to 17.

He finished with 19 points (9-for-10 free throws) and 10 rebounds for his fifth career double-double, as well as a stat line that included four assists, two steals, and the block. Wahl’s outside shot is still a work in progress (he was 0-for-3) and he will become even more dangerous for himself and his teammates if he can start drawing defenders consistently out to the perimeter.

“He makes so many good things happen and plays so hard,” Gard said. “I’m glad he’s on our team. It was good to see him get to the line and have some success there because that’s an area I think he can be really effective at.”

Eagle-eyed viewers likely noticed Gard and the UW coaching staff were back in sport coats and dress shoes for the opener. Since the 2020-21 pandemic season, coaching staffs around the country have ditched suits for casual wear and sneakers. Toiling with the idea in the offseason, Gard felt the timing was right.

“I had coaches and teachers who came to class every day with a shirt and tie,” Gard said. “This is a very honorable profession. I understand why we went away from it. Those that choose to go casual, it is really comfortable. I just felt that the respect to the past was a part of it and this is a very important profession and the image you portray with that.

“Also, it’s a message to our players. You can’t show up to job interviews dressed like they are going to the health club all the time. There’s a place and time for it, but also there’s a place and time for p professionalism. For us internally at Wisconsin, this is the route I wanted to go.”

Kicking off the 125th season of Wisconsin basketball, Gard said he dug the red blazer out of the mothballs as an ode to former UW coach and mentor Bo Ryan.

“It’s important, in the 125th year of this program, to do a tip of the cap, so to speak, to the people who have come before you,” Gard said.

4: Wisconsin had 4 players score in double figures (Wahl 19, Hepburn 14, Crowl 12, Klesmit 11), something the team accomplished nine times last season.

10: The Badgers turned the ball over 10 times in the opener. UW had 25 games of 10 or fewer turnovers last season.

17: Wisconsin went 17-for-23 at the free throw line. The Badgers' 17 FTs would have ranked as the 5th-highest total last season.

59: UW held South Dakota to 59 points on 40.0 percent shooting. Last season, the Badgers held their opponent below 60 times a total of seven times.

85: The Badgers scored 85 points in the season opener, their most in an opener since 2018. UW posted at least 85 points on three occasions in 2021-22.

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