Tyler Wahl's Status TBD as No.11 Wisconsin Prepares for Nebraska
MADISON, Wis. – Some extra days of rest hasn’t made forward Tyler Wahl’s outlook any clearer with his injured right ankle.
Forced to miss Friday’s 86-74 loss to No.14 Michigan State, Wahl did not practice Tuesday, but did ditch the walking boot, as No.11 Wisconsin prepares to play Nebraska at Pinnacle Bank Arena Thursday afternoon.
“He’s done a little bit more each day,” head coach Greg Gard said following Tuesday’s practice. “We don’t know where (the ankle) will be yet on Thursday. We’ll see how he reacts to what he does and how he feels the next day from what he’s done the previous day. We don’t know for sure … We got a couple days here to help him try to continue to get better.”
The road game was originally scheduled for January 25 but was pushed back two days to accommodate the Cornhuskers, who postponed Saturday’s game because of COVID concerns within their program. That was hopeful to be good news for Wahl, who was developing rapidly since Big Ten play resumed.
During UW’s seven-game winning streak, Wahl shot 63.9 percent from the floor and averaging 15.3 points, 6.6 rebounds 2.4 assists and 1.3 steals per game.
He was injured when he collided with Northwestern's Ryan Young with 7 minutes, 27 seconds left in the victory over the Wildcats on January 18. His attempt to play through the discomfort lasted only 61 more seconds before checking out of the game.
Without his presence on the floor, the Badgers (15-3, 6-2 Big Ten) allowed the Spartans to shoot a season-high 52.7 percent from the floor and get outscored 21-2 in fast-break points. Wisconsin was outrebounded, 39-20, and gave up 12 second chance points off 11 offensive rebounds.
“You look at what Tyler gives us, he brings a lot to the table,” Gard said. “Arguably our best low-post player offensively. Arguably our best defensive player in the low post. The versatility he brings, able to guard one through four or five. He could get you a double-double any night and he’s been playing really well. You’re not going to replace that and you’re not going to put Tyler’s experience in three years into somebody who has a year or less experience.”
In Wahl’s absence, forwards Ben Carlson (six points on six shots) and Carter Gilmore (no points on three shots) struggled. Carlson will likely get his second consecutive start if Wahl is unavailable or starts the game on the bench.
“Ben has practiced pretty well the last couple days,” Gard said. “Maybe this timeout for Tyler as he gets healthy has been helping Ben because he’s gotten a higher volume of reps. I thought he did some good things in the game the other night, but he also has a long way to go. I think the potential is there for Ben to become a really good player. He just has to get some experience.”
The Huskers (6-13, 0-8) haven’t played since January 17, suffering a 78-71 home loss to Indiana that dropped them to 0-12 against power conference teams this season.
Nebraska ranks last in the Big Ten in scoring defense (79.1 ppg), field goal percentage defense (44.4 percent), and 3-point defense (35.9). The Huskers also are the poorest shooting 3-point team in the conference (29.8 percent) and the worst in the conference in limiting rebounds (42.6).
“It’s a team that individually is very talented, but just haven’t been able to consistently put it together,” Gard said. “We’ll have to be good as the things we weren’t good at (against Michigan State). We’ll have to be better in transition defensively, be better on the glass, be more efficient at the start of the game offensively. For us, those are the things we have to get better at, regardless if we played Nebraska or whoever was going to be next.”
_________________________________________________
*Chat about this article in The Badgers' Den
*Check out our videos, interviews, and Q&As on our YouTube channel
*Subscribe and listen to the BadgerBlitz.com podcast (as seen on Apple, Google, Spotify and wherever you listen to podcasts)
*Follow us on Twitter: @McNamaraRivals, @JakeKoco, @TheBadgerNation, @RaulV45
*Like us on Facebook