The Wisconisn Badgers used excellent defense to defeat in-state opponent Green Bay Phoenix Tuesday. The Badgers held Green Bay to just 28.1% shooting. Five Badgers scored in double figures. Micah Potter led the way with 14 points. Aleem Ford and Nate Reuvers each had 13 points, while Brad Davison and Tyler Wahl had 10 and 11 respectively. Below are my takeaways from this game as the Badgers moved to 3-0 on the season.
Defense Was Fantastic
/cdn.vox-cdn.com/uploads/chorus_image/image/68198858/usa_today_15255223.0.jpg "Stellar Defense Leads Wisconsin Over Green Bay 1")
As mentioned earlier, Wisconsin held Green Bay to 28.1% shooting for the game. Green Bay only shot 15.4% in the first half and scored 12 points as well. Wisconsin also held Green Bay stud guard Amari Davis in check, scoring only nine points on 3-12 shooting. In the game preview, we knew the Phoenix would need to shoot well against this Badger defense. This was the complete opposite.
Three point shooting was a struggle for Green Bay in their opener against Minnesota and yesterday was no different. They only shot 3-17 from three and only 7-13 from the free throw game. It seemed every basket the Phoenix scored was hard earned thanks to the excellent defense by Wisconsin.
Offense Started Slow But Got In A Groove
Speaking of tough shooting, Wisconsin was not much better to start the game. Green Bay was playing with a ton of energy early and got in the face of Wisconsin ball handlers. This seemed to bother the Badger in the beginning. At the under 12 media timeout, Wisconisn only had nine points on the board, and only 13 at the under eight media timeout.
After the slow start, Wisconsin went on a 20-4 run over the course of 10 plus minutes, Wisconsin ended the half leading 24-10 on 45% shooting from the field.
The second half, Wisconsin was clicking on all cylinders, making 10 of their first 12 shots of the second half. Wisconsin went on two separate 8-0 runs and made this a 40 point game by the time the under eight media timeout. Wisconsin ended up shooting 55.7% from the field, 45% from three, and 83.3% from the free throw line.
This Was The Micah Potter and Tyler Wahl Show
Anyone watching this game saw one thing: Micah Potter had his way in the paint and did whatever he wanted to. Green Bay had no answer for Potter in this game. Potter never seemed bothered by the defense and scored at will.
I was extremely impressed with sophomore Tyler Wahl. There was a lot of hype surrounding Wahl this off-season and in the fall. Wahl put on muscle this summer and took his game to another level. Wahl recorded his first double-double of his career, scoring 11 points and adding 15 rebounds. He was all over the court, especially in the second half. Wahl also received the attention of Green Bay coach Will Ryan post game.
UWGB coach Will Ryan said he told his players to look at Tyler Wahl and play that hard…
— Jeff Potrykus (@jaypo1961) December 2, 2020
Tyler Wahl isn’t going to the leading scorer every game, but if he consistently stuffs the stat sheet, he could become a huge part of this team moving forward. The game has seemed to slow down for him. He looks more confident and more aggressive early on this season.
Up Next
Wisconsin will take the ride down I-94 to take on their in-state rival Marquette on Friday at 6 PM at the Fiserv Forum.
Green Bay will travel to Eastern Illinois Saturday for a 2 PM tip off.
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