Game Day Essentials: Game #20 at #18 Wisconsin

Wisconsin Info

Head Coach: Greg Gard
Location: Madison, WI
Conference: B1G
Nickname: Badgers

Mascot: Bucky Badger

Line: Wisconsin by 7.5

Typical Rotation Depth: 8+

KenPom rank: 20

Nota bene:

The last time Nebraska won at the Kohl Center was a 74-73 win over then #10 Wisconsin on the last regular season game of the 2021-22 season
Both coaches have sons playing for them. Isaac Gard is a junior walk-on for the Badgers

Player to watch: John Tonje

After a lost season at Missouri, the Omaha Central product is the leading scorer for Wisconsin, leading the team in FT and 3pt makes. USC was able to hold Tonje scoreless, but lost by 15 in the effort.

Player to watch: John Blackwell

Blackwell's emergence as a scoring threat last season led to Connor Essegian sitting on the bench and eventually transferring to Nebraska. Now as Wisconsin's main shooting threat, the streaky Blackwell is only shooting 32.9% from 3 though on any given day is capable of going off

Player to watch: Steven Crowl

The 7ft senior center looks to be a difficult piece to guard for Nebraska given his capacity to pass out of the post. Is capable of popping a 3 from the top of the key

Wisconsin's Roster

Player	#	Class	Pos	Height	Weight	Summary
John Tonje	9	SR	G	6-5	222	17.5 Pts 4.8 Reb 1.9 Ast
John Blackwell	25	SO	G	6-4	194	16.4 Pts 4.7 Reb 2.4 Ast
Steven Crowl	22	SR	F	7-0	217	10.4 Pts 5.5 Reb 2.5 Ast
Nolan Winter	31	SO	F	6-11	220	10.4 Pts 5.8 Reb 1.0 Ast
Max Klesmit	11	SR	G	6-3	180	10.4 Pts 2.0 Reb 2.8 Ast
Kamari McGee	4	SR	G	6-0	180	7.1 Pts 2.6 Reb 2.1 Ast
Xavier Amos	13	JR	F	6-8	210	4.0 Pts 1.9 Reb 0.3 Ast
Carter Gilmore	7	SR	F	6-7	215	2.9 Pts 2.1 Reb 1.1 Ast
Jack Janicki	33	FR	G	6-5	190	1.6 Pts 1.3 Reb 0.8 Ast
Markus Ilver	35	SR	F	6-8	219	2.1 Pts 0.6 Reb 0.1 Ast
Jack Robison	2	FR	F	6-5	190	0.7 Pts 0.1 Reb 0.0 Ast
Riccardo Greppi	18	FR	F	6-10	255	1.0 Pts 1.8 Reb 0.3 Ast
Isaac Gard	15	JR	G	6-2	165	0.4 Pts 0.1 Reb 0.1 Ast

Other Roster

Starting forward Nolan Winter leads the Badgers in rebounding and can score inside and out. Max Klesmit leads the team in 3pt attempts but is making a dismal 29.2% from 3. Glue guy Carter Gilmore is the main backup at post. Northern Illinois transfer Xavier Amos is another backup post, more of a scoring threat. Backup guard Kamari McGee is shooting 54.8% from 3.

UNL Game Notes

Roster/infirmary report

Possible starters for Nebraska

3 Guard Brice Williams 6-7 214 lbs Senior

0 Guard Connor Essegian 6-4 190 lbs Junior

4 Forward Juwan Gary 6-6 226 lbs Senior

2 Guard Ahron Ulis 6-3 190 lbs Senior

34 Center Braxton Meah 7-1 264 lbs Senior

Bench

9 Forward Berke Büyüktuncel 6-10 244 lbs

24 Guard Rollie Worster 6-5 210 lbs Senior

1 Guard Sam Hoiberg 6-0 185 lbs Junior

23 Forward Andrew Morgan 6-10 242 lbs Senior

31 Guard Cale Jacobsen 6-4 195 lbs Sophomore

12 Guard Gavin Griffiths 6-7 193 lbs Sophomore

5   Forward   Braden Frager    6-7   220 lbs   Freshman
8   Guard   Jeffrey Grace III    6-3   200 lbs   Junior
20   Forward   Justin Bolis    6-8   225 lbs   Sophomore
25   Guard   Nick Janowski    6-4   208 lbs   Freshman

35 Forward Henry Burt 6-7 222 lbs Sophomore

Out for year
51 Forward Rienk Mast 6-10 260 lbs Senior

Fred Hoiberg Presser

Fred hints that we might end up seeing more lineup changes going forward

The Skinny:

With the loss of Chucky Hepburn and AJ Starr to the NIL monster, many had Wisconsin picked to be towards the bottom of the conference. However, behind the addition of John Tonje and movement to the highest tempo offense of any Wisconsin team this century, the Badgers find themselves ranked and towards the top of the conference.

The Badgers have been 3pt heavy, currently ranking 1st in B1G conference play for 3pt rate. Look for at least 30 attempts from deep against a Nebraska team that is likely to double team the posts. The Badgers seem streaky from deep like most any team, as they've made anywhere from 22.7% to 67.7% from deep in conference. Regardless, the Badger offense has been their strength this season and has only been held under a point per possession once.

Defensively, this isn't a vintage Badger team but they do well enough. They don't force turnovers nor block shots...they simply force you to take tough shots. You can probably pin 3 of WIsconsin's 4 losses on their defense, games in which the Badgers were outscored.

Perhaps Nebraska is looking for a fast start on offense by potentially moving to Morgan and Hoiberg in the starting lineup. The very odd thing about Morgan is that you'd assume the offense would function better with him on the court though numbers show that for whatever reason the opposite is true. Actually, the two players that really seem to help offensively relative to when they're off the court have been Gary and Essegian. It might be the case that Nebraska is looking for Morgan to match up with Crowl's speed and to start the game with a possible defensive matchup.

Despite a 5 game losing streak, Nebraska has only fallen 9 places in KenPom because with the exception of Purdue, Nebraska has been a couple of plays away from winning. If Nebraska can figure out how to hang around in this one on the road, can they figure out how to make those winning plays?

Prediction: Wisconsin 85 - Nebraska 79