Wisconsin Once Again Primed to Exceed Preseason Expectations
MADISON - When this season's sixth installment of the Associated Press top 25 came out Sunday, Wisconsin found itself slotted in at No. 22. An appearance that very few, if any, predicted, especially this early in the season.
The ranking comes in the wake of three victories in eight days, two coming on the road against in-state rival Marquette and conference foe Iowa. The other came at home against previously undefeated and No. 13 Maryland.
Wisconsin is currently riding a three-game win streak immediately after an uncharacteristic loss to Wake Forest in which the team gave up 78 points. The defeat was a one-possession final with UW falling by three.
Sitting at 8-2, UW’s two losses have come by a combined four points. Greg Gard’s crew is a box out against Kansas and a couple stops against Wake Forest from being 10-0.
While preseason projections will never mean more than how a team is expected to perform given the talent on paper, UW has continued to make those tasked with voting look silly. The rag-tag group of players in Madison hasn’t needed much time to mesh, and that’s shown up in the clutch once again.
“Just the togetherness,” senior Tyler Wahl said when asked about how the group has exceeded expectations. “A lot of guys they don’t really care who gets the shots. Everyone just wants to dive on the ground, get on the floor and see other guys on the team succeed. So when you got all 16 guys on a team looking forward to guys making plays, I think that’s really huge and a really special thing about Wisconsin.”
That unselfishness is a major reason why Wisconsin hasn't dropped off as much as expected given the loss of the team's top two scorers a season ago in Johnny Davis (19.7) and Brad Davison (14.1).
Playing through the post as Wisconsin has always done, the passing prowess of bigs Steven Crowl and Wahl has shined thus far. Crowl has tallied a career-high seven assists in two of the past three games. Through 10 games, the junior big leads the team with 3.4 assists a game. Wahl shares the similar quality, coming in at third on the team with 1.8 assists per contest.
The first two baskets of the game against Iowa came in similar fashion. The first came when a double team against Wahl left Crowl free under the basket for an easy finish. The next time down, guard Max Klesmit backed in and found Wahl for yet another easy layup.
A season ago, Wisconsin's season-high for assists in a game was 17. The Badgers have hit that mark twice - 17 against Iowa and a season-high 21 against Marquette.
"I don’t think I’ve ever played with a center like that who is able to find us like that," point guard Chucky Hepburn said of his big man.
"For us touching the post is always an emphasis, no matter who we play or how big they are, so right out of the gate we were touching T (Wahl). Then we knew they were going to double, so just cutting off him, and he made some good passes to me," Crowl added.
"We’ve kind of emphasized moving off the ball with our guards and knowing when to cut and knowing when to flood to the corner and spot up. Kind of us knowing how to read them and knowing what they’re going to do, so we’re on the same page has been big for us."
The group may not have a true leader on the offensive end who can reliably be counted on any night for 16 or more points. The group hasn't needed that, though.
"I think that just shows the resilience of this team," Wahl said. "I remember there was one huddle there were one, two, three, four guys in the huddle when we all huddle and they were all saying, ‘that’s fine, we just got to keep competing. There's a lot of time,'"
"I know we play in a lot of close games. It was the same thing last year. We just got a lot of tough guys that come here to win games."
It hasn't always been pretty for the Badgers. After all, each of the past seven games have been decided by five points or fewer. The level of effort, however, has been the connecting thread through all 10 games this season.
"Just playing hard and competing," Crowl said of the effort. "Coach (Greg Gard) is always on us about that about playing hard. Sometimes shots aren’t going to fall. I know I’ve been in a slump for a few games here. I’m going to keep shooting it, but the thing you can control is playing hard and I think all of us play hard. No matter 1 through 16 on the bench, we’re all going to play hard and compete."
A turnover from Connor Essegian at the end of regulation to allow Iowa a possession to tie things up didn't help Wisconsin's cause. Neither did two missed free throws in the final three minutes of regulation, both of which were on the front end of a one-and-one.
Forcing a pair of turnovers in the final thirty seconds of overtime and hitting some timely shots were just enough to pull away on the road against a conference foe to improve to 8-2 on the season.
"Off the court, we’re best friends. We don’t really care who scores 30 points, who scores 10 points, we just want to win, all of us," Crowl said of the group. "It goes back to just competing.
"We’re always going to compete and just try to be in the game, so if someone is not competing, we’re going to get on them. As players we’re going to get on them, it doesn’t have to be the coaches, it can be a player-led team. So I think just that competitiveness is going to keep us in a lot of games and hopefully win us a lot of games."
"A lot of things to learn from this. A lot of things we did not do well, not do properly or correct, but again a team that continues to battle and fight and tries to find a way," Gard added. "This group - they don’t flinch. They keep battling and they don’t do everything right and we all know that but I can never question their effort or their intent."
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