Wisconsin Trying To Regain Rhythm From Three-Point Range

MADISON, Wis. – Wisconsin head coach Greg Gard admits he can’t jump into the minds of his players.

A long-time Bo Ryan assistant, hearing his mentor say countless times that he couldn’t yell his players into making shots, Gard has spent the better part of six seasons teaching his players to not get consumed by the results on offense, especially since the negative connotations can hurt the defense Wisconsin needs to play to be successful.

But as Gard has watched the tape over the last month to try and diagnose why 3-point shots aren’t falling, a common theme has come up in his conversations with reporters: Badgers simply aren’t hitting quality open looks.

That was again the diagnosis Saturday following Wisconsin’s 75-60 loss at No.12 Illinois, a game in which UW went 4-for-24 from 3-point range overall and 0-for-9 in the first half.

“I thought they were, specifically the nine in the first half, pretty decent looks, but you got to make them,” Gard said. “You got to make your fair share of them.”

A lot has been made this season of the defensive struggles No.21 Wisconsin (14-6, 8-5 Big Ten) has battled with, especially when it comes to shutting down dribble penetration into the low post, but there’s no question that a team built to hit perimeter shots that suddenly stops making them isn’t dealing with a mental anchor of sorts.

A year ago, UW set a school record by averaging 8.7 3-pointers per game and finishing second in the conference with a 36.1 percent 3-point field goal percentage during Big Ten play. Other than guard Brevin Pritzl, the entire rotation returned this season and shot 41.4 percent through the first 12 games of the season. However, the last eight games have shown a decline, with UW shooting 30.4 percent from the perimeter (62-for-204) and the splits are even greater in wins and losses.

In Wisconsin’s eight Big Ten wins, the Badgers are shooting 37.1 percent from 3-point range (65-for-175). In the Badgers’ four losses, Wisconsin hits at just 27.1 percent (35-for-129), including a season-low four made 3-pointers and hitting a season-worst percentage (16.7) at Illinois Saturday.

“We got a lot of really good looks, wide open,” senior D’Mitrik Trice said. “I think our guys normally knock them down.”

The shooting outages spread throughout the rotation. Trice hit two of UW’s four 3-pointers against the Illini, although one came at the buzzer to make him seven of his last 33.

Aleem Ford is 5-for-16 over his last four games, Micah Potter has missed all his attempts in four of the last five games, Nate Reuvers hasn’t made multiple 3-pointers in a game since Dec.15 and Brad Davison is 23-for-93 (24.7 percent) overall since his 50 percent shooting performance in UW’s road win at Michigan State.

“You can’t stop shooting,” Davison said. “A lot of different guys on our team that shooting is a great strength and a great weapon for them. It forces the defense to spread out, forces the defense to run you off the line. We don’t necessarily talk about twos and threes; we just talk about good shots. If the shot is there, you got to trust it, you got to take it.”

Having the willingness to shoot will be put to the test tomorrow against Nebraska (4-10, 0-7) at Pinnacle Bank Arena (8:30 p.m./BTN). Although the Huskers have played only 14 games after a prolonged program pause because of COVID, Nebraska leads the league in 3-point percentage defense (31.2 percent). Going nearly a month between games, the Huskers’ defense on the perimeter didn’t dip with the defense holding the Spartans to 6-for-23 Saturday and Minnesota to 8-for-36 Monday.

When Wisconsin hosted Nebraska in late December, the Badgers started 1-for-14 and committed six turnovers through its first 18 possessions before catching fire in the second half.

Davison is adamant that there are a variety of ways for him and his teammates to get into that rhythm and find confidence, like playing hard defense, setting screens and generating hustle plays. It’s part of the reason he doesn’t believe Wisconsin is pressing but acknowledges they are a group that needs to find a rhythm soon with only seven conference games left.

“We’re all getting good looks, we’re moving the ball, playing inside-out, doing what we want to do,” Davison said. “We know we’re all great shooters. We’ve put the time in. We not only have confidence in ourselves but in one another to knock down shots.

“We’re going to keep looking for each other. We’re going to keep hunting for them. That’s how you make a run. That’s how you win games. Yes, defensively is a big deal, but you’ve got to put the ball in the hoop.”