Tyler Wahl's Defense Growing His Game, Boosting Wisconsin

MADISON, Wis. – At some point during the 2019-20 basketball season, when Tyler Wahl was a freshman at the University of Wisconsin, head coach Greg Gard remembers telling him that he could be the best defensive player in the Big Ten.

Never mind that Wahl was a skinny 214-pound forward. Part of the comments stemmed from Gard trying to help Wahl find an identity the last two seasons playing on teams full of upperclassmen, particularly at the forward position. The other part was Gard saw the template of somebody who could deliver

“We’ve seen what he can do,” Gard said of Wahl last month. “He’s so versatile. The one thing that helps him the most is the experience.”

That premonition of Wahl has aged well. The junior forward’s defense – particularly a key block with 31 seconds left – sealed No.22 Wisconsin’s 64-59 victory over Indiana in Wednesday’s Big Ten opener.

In addition to his seven points, Wahl had three assists, (a third of his season total entering the game), 12 rebounds with nine on the defensive glass to go along with a steal and three blocks, the last category making a huge impact on the end result

Trailing 60-59, Indiana’s Parker Stewart used a pair of screens to drive uncontested down the lane. Wahl left Race Thompson, who set the first screen, and met Stewart at the low block. Unable to take a charge with his feet in the restricted circle, Wahl went straight up blocked the shot with his right hand and then tipped the ball out to guard Johnny Davis, unleashing a fist pump when it was done.

That was the third block on the possession for Wisconsin, and Wahl was involved in all of them. Hoosiers guard Xavier Johnson, who was pestered throughout the second half by guards Brad Davison and Chucky Hepburn, couldn’t get a clean angle on the first shot attempt and had his layup blocked by Hepburn out of bounds. Replays showed he had to hesitate his shot slightly because Wahl was near the low block and stuck his right arm out, forcing Johnson to go closer to the rim and allowing Hepburn to gain an extra step.

Indiana inbounded to a cutting Thompson and, with Wahl jumping straight up against him, altered the shot off the side of the backboard.

“He’s made that play in the past, but (assistant coach) Sharif (Chambliss) brought that (jump-wall) drill from Wright State,” Gard said. “We drill that and taking a charge and diving on the floor combined into one drill. I think that’s made a formidable difference for us. We make everybody do it once a week.

“I think what it’s done it’s given guys confidence. If you’re breaking the plane, you have to jump straight up. (Wahl’s) gotten really good at it. We’ve actually named it the ‘Wahl’ drill.”

A lot of things need to go right for a team to dig out of a 22-point deficit and they rarely do. Before Wednesday, no Division-1 basketball team had erased that big of a deficit this season. The last time the Wisconsin program trailed by 22 points and won was in 1976.

For starters, the scoring picked up. The Badgers shot 31.3 percent from the field and 1-for-10 from 3-point range in the first half but bumped the number up to 40 percent. UW generated offense with the clock stopped, going 11-for-13 on free throws, and got 15 points from reserves after only getting two in the first half.

Wisconsin also maximized its 31 possessions by having one turnover and had better ball movement with nine assists.

But the program’s foundation has been its defense, which held an Indiana team that scored 42 points and shot 54.8 percent in the first 20 minutes to one that could only scratch out 17 second-half points on 22.6 percent shooting.

“That tells you right there how we won the game,” Davis said.

UW’s team defense was evident on Indiana forward Trayce Jackson-Davis. Having reached double figures in 32 of his previous 33 games, UW held Jackson-Davis to nine points by primarily relying on forwards Steven Crowl, Chris Vogt, and Wahl in one-on-one defense. In a key sequence with 2:10 to go and Indiana leading 59-57, Vogt took away Jackson-Davis’s left hand in the paint and forced him to pass out to the perimeter.

When Vogt went to double on a high ball screen, Wahl rotated over on to Jackson-Davis with Davison filling in behind. Jackson-Davis caught the pass on the low block, but Wahl forced the Indiana forward to take a dribble away from the basket and take a contested hook shot, which barely drew iron.

After UW missed two paint looks on the next possession, Johnson looked to push the ball in transition, only to be met by Davison just after crossing halfcourt. His presence, along with Wahl trying to poke the ball out in a trailing position, caused Johnson to stumble and lose the ball out of bounds.

Davis hit a 3-pointer on the ensuing possession to put Wisconsin up 60-59 with 1:18 left, the Badgers’ first lead since 5-2.

The Badgers scored the final 11 points of the game and closed the contest on a 16-2 run over the final 6:20. Indiana scored just 3 points in the final 8:59, including zero in the final 3:00.

“Once I hit that three, I knew we were going to win the game because we had been playing solid defense the whole second half,” Davis said. “They could barely even get a shot off in the final minutes.”

As Wisconsin (8-1, 1-0 Big Ten) prepares for its road contest at No.21 Ohio State (7-2, 1-0), the Badgers will face a similar test in forward E.J. Liddell. One of three forwards who average over 10 points per game for the Buckeyes, Liddell is tops on the team in scoring at 19.8 points and 7.0 rebounds per game.

It’s the opponent that will bring many similar defensive tests for the Badgers, who have shown a refusal to quit through the first month of the season.

“(Indiana) was a great win for this year and this team, and a great learning experience,” Davison said. “We know our identity is on the defensive end and being physical and playing with that mindset. We just got to do it for 40 minutes and not dig a hole like that. That was an incredible win. The cool thing about this group is we’re all excited to get back to work and head to Ohio State and get it rolling.”

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