Game Day Essentials: Game #25 at Wisconsin

[hhcmatt]

Nebraska Cornhuskers (13-11) at Wisconsin Badgers (14-9)

 

Date: Wednesday, Feb 10th, 2016
Time: 6:00 p.m. CST
Arena: Kohl Center
Capacity: 17,249

 

Broadcast Information

Television: BTN

Online: BTN2GO

Satellite Radio: Sirius (Ch. 83); XM (195)
Play-by-play: Kent Pavelka
Expert Analysis: Matt Davison

 

Wisconsin Scouting Thread

Wisconsin Info

 

Head Coach: Greg Gard
Location: Madison, WI
Conference: B1G 10
Nickname: Badgers
Last time out: Beat Ohio St
Typical Rotation Depth: 7-8 players
Line: Wisconsin by -8
Tempo: Ssssllloowwww down
Offensive Style: "Wisconsin Swing"
Defense Style: "More aggressive in the passing lanes, less aggressive on the defensive boards than a Bo Ryan defense
Fun Fact : You must pay your taxes and you're not immortal even though Bo Ryan is no longer the coach

 

Player to watch: Ethan Happ

 

The 6'9" Redshirt freshman is THE constant post threat the Huskers need to worry about as over 85% of his looks are coming in the paint where he's scoring in double digits to go with 8+ rebounds a game.

 

Miles Pregame Presser

 

Watson Pregame Presser

The Skinny

 

You can tell from Miles' presser that the overall game plan and rotation won't change drastically against Wisconsin with Jack McVeigh slotting in for Shavon and Nick Fuller the next forward off the bench. Against a Wisconsin team that rolls a lot of game with three 6'8"+ players and guards that post you up, rolling with a smaller lineup doesn't seem like a great idea.

 

Things have changed a bit under long-time Bo Ryan assistant Greg Gard. Besides bringing back the swing offense, Gard has this Badger squad a lot more aggressive on defense, giving up defensive rebounds in the pursuit of steals. Heck, the Badgers lead the league in steal % and turnover % which is remarkable given they been among the lowest for over a decade. This team also isn't shooting a ton of 3s though that's probably more of a talent than style issue as the Badgers are shooting under 35% for the year.

 

The biggest problem tonight for Nebraska, besides replace on the B1G leading scores/heart of their team, is that Wisconsin draws a ton of contact. Nebraska will foul the heck out of teams that don't make it to the line so it's not out of the realm of possibilities we could see 40+ attempts from the Badgers tonight. A hot shooting night could keep Nebraska in this game but I don't know how a team that has been hacking people for the entire Tim Miles era is going to just stop tonight on the road.
Prediction: Wisconsin 76 - Nebraska 65

Click here to view the article

[hhcmatt]

One thing I didn't mention: I spent a lot of time watching McVeigh playing in the U18 games this summer and most of his game was taking it to the rim to the point I had no idea that he had an outside shot.  I'd expect a little more aggression to the basket from him this game.

[AuroranHusker]

Wisconsin has won 6 straight so their last time out was not an L to RU.

 

 

 

 

 

 

<EDIT> Apparently I gave the Badgers the benefit of a 6th consecutive win, guess it is so now

[hhcmatt]

Wisconsin has won 6 straight so their last time out was not an L to RU.

 

Thanks for the heads up on my whiff of my stat recycle job from last year

[AuroranHusker]

 

Wisconsin has won 6 straight so their last time out was not an L to RU.

 

Thanks for the heads up on my whiff of my stat recycle job from last year

 

 

No prob, Dimes.

 

By the way, that was the last time that Rutgers has won a Big Ten game, *AT* Wisconsin over a year ago!!

[AuroranHusker]

Wisconsin uni's:

 

[formerlybis]

FYI - that January game last year that Wisconsin lost to Rutgers was the last time RU won a B1G game (!). Inexplicable loss for the Badgers, although Kaminsky didn't play and Traevon Jackson was injured during the game. There was a joke going around in the offseason - what do Rutgers & Duke basketball have in common? Their last win was against Wisconsin.

[huskerbaseball13]

FYI - that January game last year that Wisconsin lost to Rutgers was the last time RU won a B1G game (!). Inexplicable loss for the Badgers, although Kaminsky didn't play and Traevon Jackson was injured during the game. There was a joke going around in the offseason - what do Rutgers & Duke basketball have in common? Their last win was against Wisconsin.

 

 

What's the rumlings in Wisconsin...is Greg Gard going to be around long?  Wisconsin being good is good for the conference so I'm hoping you all can keep the momentum going. 

[khoock]

Man if we can pull off the upset I will be stoked. I think we will need a balanced scoring effort. White is almost always good for his scoring average give or take a couple points. It will come down to Watson/Webster/McVeigh/Jacobson/Morrow. If three of those five go double figures along with White I think we pull off an upset. But we definitely cannot have another game where Jacobson, Morrow, and McVeigh combine for like six points. Goodluck to the team and GBR!!!

[formerlybis]

 

FYI - that January game last year that Wisconsin lost to Rutgers was the last time RU won a B1G game (!). Inexplicable loss for the Badgers, although Kaminsky didn't play and Traevon Jackson was injured during the game. There was a joke going around in the offseason - what do Rutgers & Duke basketball have in common? Their last win was against Wisconsin.

 

 

What's the rumlings in Wisconsin...is Greg Gard going to be around long?  Wisconsin being good is good for the conference so I'm hoping you all can keep the momentum going. 

 

First off, the loss to Rutgers last year was in NJ, not in Madison. Still inexplicable.

 

As you can imagine, the Gard permanency question is foremost on every Badger fan's mind. Most fans think he's doing a better-than-good job. Fans don't make the decision, though. We went through something similar when we ended up with Bo Ryan - Dick Bennett quit 3 games into the season & his hand-picked successor, Brad Soderberg, was the interim coach that led the Badgers to the NCAAs that year. Soderberg was not retained, however, which was pretty controversial at the time - Bennett, like Ryan was a Wisconsin basketball icon having coached at UW-Stevens Point & UW-Green Bay before landing in Madison (Ryan was UW-Platteville & UW-Milwaukee). Many people thought at the time that Soderberg should have gotten the job. Needless to say, Ryan worked out pretty well, and Soderberg ended up coaching St. Louis for a while and some lower level colleges, but he's now on Tony Bennett's staff at UVA.

 

Which brings us to Tony Bennett. Tony is Dick's son and played for him at UWGB - he had a brief NBA career, too. Tony stayed on the UW staff after his dad quit and through the first year or two of Bo Ryan's tenure. He is a Wisconsin basketball icon in his own right, and if he wants the UW job, he could probably get it. Trouble is, he's got a good gig, and the rumor is that if he leaves UVA, it will be for the pros.

 

At this point, I think the fans want Gard or Bennett, and no one else. There is a wild card, though. Barry Alvarez is rumored to be close friends with Mike Brey at Notre Dame. He's coached at Marquette, so he knows the state. Alvarez himself is close to retiring, so this will likely be his last big hire and he's known for doing things his own way, so who knows what's going to happen. Myself, I think Gard should get it.

[Red Don]

Wisconsin Likely Starters                

No. Name                Po. Yr. Ht.     Wt.   G/GS  PPG RPG  Other

3     Zak Showalter    G   Jr    6-2   184   23/23   7.5   4.1   2.2 apg

24   Bronson Koenig G   Jr    6-4   193   23/23 13.4   2.3   2.2 apg

10   Nigel Hayes        F   Jr    6-8   240   23/23 17.1   6.0   3.5 apg

22   Ethan Happ        F  RFr  6-9   235   23/23 12.3   8.1   1.5 spg

30   Vitto Brown         F   Jr    6-8   230   23/22   8.6   5.0   0.6 bpg

 

Nebraska – Likely Starters

No Name                     Po Ht.   Wt. Yr. GP/GS (mins)   PPG RPG APG

3    Andrew White III     G   6-7  216  Jr. 24/24 - 28.9       17.2  6.2   0.7

5    Glynn Watson Jr.   G   6-0  165  Fr. 24/12 - 22.7        8.6   1.7   2.7

12  Michael Jacobson  F   6-8  222  Fr. 24/15 - 16.6        4.5   3.8   0.3

31  Shavon Shields   G/F  6-7  225 Sr.  24/24 - 30.4      15.7   5.0   2.9    (Will not play)

32  Benny Parker       G    5-9  175 Sr.  24/24 - 25.0        4.7   2.2   2.3  

Rotation                  

0    Tai Webster         G    6-4   196  Jr.  24/12 - 26.9     10.0  4.0   1.7

10  Jack McVeigh     G/F  6-8   210  Fr.  24/0 -  16.4       4.9   2.9   1.2   (McVeigh/Fuller filling in for Shavon)

11  Bakari Evelyn       G   6-2   178  Fr.  13/0 -   5.5        1.6   0.6   0.3

23  Nick Fuller          G/F  6-7   204  So. 16/0 -  8.1        2.4   1.6    0.2

24  Jake Hammond     F  6-10  235  So. 20/8 - 10.9        2.3  2.9    0.2

30  Ed Morrow Jr.        F   6-7   225  Fr.  24/1 - 13.8        3.8  3.6    0.1  

Bench                  

4   Johnny Trueblood  G  6-4   195  Fr.   8/0 - 3.3           1.0   0.3   0.5

15  Malcolm Laws       G  6-1   190  So.   5/0 - 3.4          0.2   0.4   0.0

20 Tanner Borchardt   F  6-8   274  Fr.   7/0 - 3.7           0.9   1.1   0.0

[hhcmatt]

[Red Don]

Wisconsin has won 6 straight so their last time out was not an L to RU.

 

FWIW, I believe Wisconsin's current win streak is only five. 

 

1/12, L, 65-70 @ Northwestern

1/17, W, 77-76 vs Michigan State

1/21, W, 66-60 @ Penn State

1/26, W 82-79 vs Indiana

1/31, W, 63-55 @ Illinoin

2/4,   W, 79-68, vs Ohio State

2/10  vs Nebraska

 

http://www.uwbadgers.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball&

[AuroranHusker]