MADISON, Wis. – One pass and attack. That felt like the marching orders for Wisconsin during its dominant 87-56 victory over Appalachian State on Sunday, an afternoon where 17 assists on 33 made field goals seemed like a low total.
From a two-man game between seniors John Tonje and Steven Crowl and Max Klesmit finding open cutters and shooters, the Badgers hinted how efficient their offense can be when all pieces move in unison.
It’s when things aren’t clicking, like at the start of Wisconsin’s first three games, where things look problematic.
UW fell behind by 16 points to Holy Cross when it allowed the Crusaders to score 21 points on the first 11 possessions, and the Badgers didn’t play through the post. Three nights later, the defense improved by holding Montana State to a 1-for-9 start, but the offense had nine points on its first 11 possessions with two turnovers and only two post attempts.
Sunday, Appalachian State made seven of their first nine shots and built a 17-8 lead by the second media timeout. UW tightened up its defense and started flowing its offense to the rim. The ensuing 24-0 run turned a tight game into a rout.
“Our ability to stay together in those moments and not fracture or finger pointing, there’s a lot of like-minded individuals in the locker room,” Klesmit said. “Our halftime speeches just as players are so productive. No one is finger-pointing. What are we doing well and what are we doing bad? Let’s focus on what we’re doing well more than we’re bad because that’s what we can improve for the next 20 minutes.
“There’s no sense coming in and dwelling on stuff and thinking about what could have been or should have happened. There’s a lot of older guys on this team that enforce that.”
Head coach Greg Gard quipped that the training staff needs to change the water in the cooler or players should tie a different shoe first to start games with urgency. The message isn’t as impactful when the Badgers have a margin of victory of 22.3 points per game and are outscoring teams by 47 points in the second half.
Putting on the tape of last year’s 98-73 loss at Arizona should drive home the point.
Wisconsin played decently defensively through the first 10-to-11 minutes last December but was bothered by Arizona’s length and presence around the rim (UW went 13-for-24 on those shots). When the Badgers stopped adhering to their rules with guarding ball screens and allowed driving lanes to the rim when it overextended the Wildcats broke the game open with a 20-2 run in an 11-possession stretch.
The Wildcats shot 56.3 percent in the first half to lead by 17 at the break, shot 60.7 percent in the second half to lead by as many as 31, and finished at 58.3 percent.
On the flip side of that run, Wisconsin missed three jumpers, two three-pointers, one free throw, and committed four turnovers. The only offense UW generated was two free throws and even those were hard to come by considering UW was just 5-for-8 for the game from the line.
Losing four of its top eight starters entering the season, No.9 Arizona received a big addition from the portal from Tennessee forward Tobe Awaka. With the junior having 24 rebounds and 12 offensive rebounds in the first week, the Wildcats cruised past Canisius by 29 and Old Dominion by 58, scoring the first 13 points against the Griffins and the first 11 against the Monarchs.
“We have to come out (executing on) both ends of the floor,” Gard said. “Coming out of the gate from the beginning and making sure we don’t hang them low-hanging fruit. They’ve been able to take advantage of teams’ turnovers and bad shots and converted pretty quickly on the other end.”
Wisconsin has worked through the first week with five seniors in its seven-man rotation, allowing Gard to substitute easily when breakdowns happen with switches, hedges, and slowly dribble handoffs.
In the slow start against Appalachian State, sophomore forward Nolan Winter didn’t hedge a ball screen well enough, allowing the ball to move downcourt and create a lob opportunity at the rim. Shortly thereafter, John Blackwell got caught on a ball screen and didn’t fight through it. With the ball getting into a high-percentage area, the Badgers had to rotate to stop the dribble and then opened a shooter for a drive-and-kick three.
Gard didn’t hesitate to put senior Kamari McGee in for Blackwell and Carter Gilmore in for Winter after five possessions, depth, and confidence in his bench which the Badgers didn’t always have last season that could be a real strength in the months ahead.
“If I guy hits a step-back three over somebody or a tough jump shot and we play it correctly, you tip your cap and move on, but can they do that over 40 minutes,” Gard said. “You try to minimize and eliminate the mistakes and make them have to make tough shots. If they can make them for 40, then you’ve seen a better team. But when we can eradicate the mistakes and force teams to hit consistent tough shots, I think we have got a chance to be a pretty good team.”
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