The Wisconsin basketball season got under way last night. The Badgers started off about as bad as you could expect, falling behind 23-7 to a Holy Cross team that won 10 games last year. However, an 18-2 first half run and a 80-40 run to end the game allowed the Badgers to win comfortably 85-61. Wisconsin basketball was led by senior John Tonje with 23 points. Sophomores John Blackwell and Nolan Winter added 16 and 15 points respectively. Here are three takeaways from the win last night.
Wisconsin Basketball Was Sleep-Walking Early
Wisconsin basketball lost a ton of production from last year, but there is still a lot of experience on this team. That is why is was discouraging to see them start so poorly. The Crusader made three of their first four three and nine of their first 11 shots from a field. Most of those shots were un-contested. As a result, the Badgers fell behind 23-7 in the first portion of this game.
While I understand it’s going to take some time to get into the flow of the game on both sides of the court, shooting the ball and defensive lapses are a huge early season problem for this Wisconsin basketball team. It happened against UW-River Falls and it happened last night. Against just about about any other team on their schedule, the Badgers would have been ran out of the gym.
When the Badgers Settled Down, they Dominated
Credit goes to the Badgers for locking in on both sides and getting back into this game. They were able to make some threes and get some easy looks at the rim. In particular, I liked John Blackwell being aggressive. Once he began his drive to the rim, no Holy Cross defender stopped him. Wisconsin basketball only trailed by one at the half, but the rout was clearly on.
In the second half, Nolan Winter was very impressive. The sophomore got the start and made the most of it. He was really good in the post and added some of those moves to his game. The Badgers had a clear size advantage, but Winter ended the game a perfect 6-6 from the field. Big jumps are needed from Winter and Blackwell.
A Lot to Like, but A Lot to Clean Up
It was a classic first game for Wisconsin basketball. There was things I liked and things I did not like.
To start, I liked the response after falling behind 16 points. Holy Cross was playing a ton of freshmen and lost their best player in the second half, but it was encouraging to see the Badgers take an early punch and respond well.
A.J. Storr is a huge piece to replace for this team. John Tonje took that role last night and was excellent. He will be a player this team relies on every night. He can do it on both sides of the ball and is good at getting to the rim and drawing contact. Tonje, Blackwell, and Winter are all pieces that need to produce.
Like the exhibition game, Wisconsin basketball is clearly going to shoot threes this year. They made 11 last night, but had to take 31 attempts to get there. My fear is there isn’t really a true three point shooter on this team outside of Jack Janicki. There’s plenty of players that can shoot the three well, but not consistently. I understand the reason for it, but also believe you need some pure shooters to do it.
The defense locked down later in the game, but this team has enough experience that they know to be dialed in right away, They clearly were not. The crowds will be better, but the starts need to be faster and better.
For More Great Basketball Content
Follow me on Twitter @DylanBuboltz and follow us @WiSportsHeroics for more great content. To read more of our articles and keep up to date on the latest in Wisconsin sports, click here! Also, check out our merch store for some amazing WSH merchandise!
