The Wisconsin Badgers look to rebound tomorrow night against Penn State. This is a re-match from last Saturday when Penn State defeated Wisconsin 81-71 in Happy Valley. The Badgers did not play well on the defensive side in the second half Saturday. We’ll take a look at the keys to a Badger bounce back win! Tip time is scheduled for 7:30 pm in Madison on Big Ten Network.
Second Half Defense
#Badgers defense needs to do something to get Penn State out of a rhythm.
Are the Nittany Lions hitting shots? Yes.
But they're getting these shots off a pass or two.
UW doing nothing to throw them off.
— Evan Flood (@Evan_Flood) January 30, 2021
One of the biggest stories with this Badger squad this year is second half defense. The Badgers tend to play very well on defense in first halves. Second halves tend to be a different story. Last Saturday was no different for Wisconsin. The Badgers gave up 50 second half points to the Nittany Lions after having a 34-31 lead at halftime. 81 points from Penn State is also the most points Wisconsin has given up all season.
Penn State made 11 of their first 18 shots in that half and shot 53.6% from the field. Wisconsin couldn’t generate any stops consistently. The Nittany Lions got to the rim at will and made shots that were contested and un-contested. The second half defense is starting to become a glaring problem.
Can Potter and Trice Bounce Back?
Micah Potter and D’Mitrik Trice have been the best two players on the Badgers this season to this point. There isn’t much of a debate for that either. Trice is averaging 14.1 points a game while Potter is averaging 12.3 points a game. Saturday, both players combined for 12 points. Wisconsin needs to get more from these two if they are going to make a run at the end of the regular season.
While Trice and Potter struggled, Wisconsin got great games from Tyler Wahl, Nate Reuvers, and Aleem Ford. All three scored in double figures. Wahl made his first six shots from the field and ended with 13 points and 10 rebounds. Ford nailed three three pointers and had 15 points. Reuvers, who has been struggling all season, was solid with 18 points.
The Badgers play their best basketball when Trice and Potter are the center of the offense. If they can both put together solid nights every game the rest of the way, it’s Wisconsin’s best recipe of success. Role players such as Wahl, Reuvers, Ford, Brad Davison, and Johnny Davis need to play consistent as well. We haven’t seen this much from Wisconsin this year. I am hoping tomorrow against Penn State begins to change that.
It’s Go Time Now
Now that February has arrived, teams begin to hit their stride and see if they are a NCAA tournament team, second weekend team in the tournament, or even an NCAA title contender. I know without a doubt this Badger team is a NCAA tournament team. Right now, I don’t know if they are a second weekend team.
There is no doubt this is a talented roster. They have seven of their eight role players returning from last year’s team that won the Big Ten title and had the number one seed in the conference tournament before COVID shut the season down. The changes are looking slim the Badgers repeat as Big Ten champions. They have not seemed to hit that stride that they found last year after a blowout loss to Minnesota followed by running the table the rest of the regular season.
The Big Ten is also a deeper and better conference than it was last season. Every night in this conference is a battle for 40 minutes. Whoever wins this conference will have earned it. While Wisconisn still sits tied for 4th in the Big Ten, they haven’t faced their gauntlet portion of the Big Ten season. They still have to play Illinois twice, Iowa twice, and Michigan who blew Wisconsin out a few weeks ago. Losing a game like they did Saturday was not good for Wisconsin. They certainly can’t afford to lost tomorrow night either.
Prediction
There is no doubt Wisconsin is not playing it’s best ball. A team with the amount of experience and talent they have should be playing better this point of the season. Penn State does deserve credit for they way they played Saturday. They exploited Wisconsin in the paint and made tough shots when it seemed like Wisconsin was ready to make one last push.
It’ll be interesting to see who steps up and leads the charge for the Badgers. I believe Potter and Trice will be more active and will look to get their shots early in this game. Wisconsin also needs to get to the free throw line more too. They did not get to the line until three seconds left in the first half while Penn State give us 22 free throw attempts a game.
If Penn State can do what they did Saturday and get easy shots in the point, it could be a long night again for Wisconsin. The second half defense needs to be better for Wisconsin. With nine regular season games left, the Badgers need to begin playing their best ball now. What a better time to do it then on your home floor.
While this preview has been showing a lot of negatives, it’s clear Wisconsin is the better overall team. They have better players and better coaches. If Wisconsin plays Wisconsin basketball, they should win and win easily. Wisconsin also doesn’t lose back to back games either. The Badgers have yet to lose back to back games this year and I don’t expect that to change tomorrow.
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Wisconsin 68 Penn State 60
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