By james art It was an ugly first 27-plus minutes of the University of Wisconsin men’s basketball team’s season Wednesday at the Kohl Center. But in a 78-62 exhibition win over UW-River Falls, the Badgers eventually pulled away.
Wisconsin, using frequent shifts to experiment with different lineups, took a while to get into a rhythm — and didn’t get much from two of its expected leading scorers, guards Max Klesmith and John Blackwell, who combined for five points on 1-of -14 shooting. Klesmith went scoreless in the game going 0-of-5 from the field. But a 28-7 run over the final 8:41 of the game largely erased the impact of Wisconsin’s struggles against its Division III opponent, which matched its 43.9 percent shooting from the floor.
“We obviously have a long way to go defensively,” Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. “This is not new news.”
The Badgers’ first shot attempt of the season looked like a good omen: One of their new signings, transfer guard John Tonje, got a wide-open 3 in the left corner that he drained. It was a good start to a 3-point-heavy half for Wisconsin, making 18 attempts in the first 20 minutes. He shot 11 of 32 from 3-point range in the game.
“I think that’s something that the coaches have put a lot on us for,” senior forward Carter Gilmore said, “just shooting the ball this year. We won’t miss open looks.”
But some streaks also appeared.
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Wisconsin missed seven of its next eight shots, starting the game 2 of 9 from the floor. He then connected on his next four attempts, including eight points in 1:37 by senior forward Markus Ilver. An 11-2 run in the period gave Wisconsin its first 10-point lead, 16-6. UW-River Falls would cut it back, but never by more than six points — the Badgers led 30-24 — at the 4:19 mark of the first half.
“We had some shots that didn’t fall,” Tone said, “but we stuck with it.”
Tonje, who struggled to find his shot after the game’s first drive, got back into rhythm, scoring all six of Wisconsin’s points in the final 2:34 to put the Badgers up 40-29 at the break.
However, things got rough from a shooting standpoint for the Badgers in the second half. Wisconsin missed nine of its first 11 field goal attempts, including 6 of 7 from 3-point range. Sophomore guard John Blackwell was among those who struggled the most, missing three straight shots during a streak while scoring five points on 1-of-9 shooting Wednesday. Wisconsin couldn’t get the stops to tie it as UW-River Falls went on a 9-2 run over 2:21 to cut the Badgers’ lead to 47-45 at the 12:55 mark.
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But that was as bad as it got. Wisconsin rallied, the Falcons never took the lead and a 13-0 run over 3:49 gave the Badgers a 60-45 cushion at 8:55. Wisconsin made 6-of-9 shots in overtime. Wisconsin senior forward Carter Gilmore hit his third 3-pointer of the game from the left wing to put the Badgers up 67-47 at the 6:16 mark.
They scored their reserves after raising the score a little further, finally getting a rest before the next season starts on November 4th.
“You have to see outside competition to be tested. You have to be exposed in some areas,” Gard said. “We were on Saturday (in the close game against Northern Iowa) in some areas. We were back tonight so that will speed up our studies. And we have to learn fast. And to learn with a lot of new guys.”
Here are three things that stood out from the game.
Wisconsin is choosing not to have a true point guard in the starting lineup
When the starters were announced before the game began, the point guard battle officially declared a winner for the showcase: nobody. something like. The Badgers selected a starting five that included guards Blackwell, Klesmith and Tone along with forwards Nolan Winter and Stephen Crowl. With that, none of senior Kamari McGee (who Gard said was the leader in the race after the Badgers’ fourth open practice), transfer Kamren Hunter or freshman Daniel Freitag will start as a true point guard to run the floor.
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Klesmith had previously indicated at Big Ten men’s basketball media days that the point guard position could be run “by committee,” and Gard always included Blackwell and Klesmith’s names in discussions of the position. Both Blackwell and Klesmith have previous experience running offenses in high school and college, respectively, and the ball-screen-heavy offensive system adds to their versatility.
“It’s a big lineup that has a lot of goals,” Gard said, admitting the shooting wasn’t there Wednesday. ” … But I’ve seen enough of them in practice that I know how they shoot it.”
Blackwell seemingly handled the ball-handling duties early on, but each of the first few times on the floor, he gave up quickly and started his movement within the offense. Gard said he ran the starting lineup together in the Badgers’ close scrimmage Saturday against Northern Iowa and liked what he saw, especially when Blackwell carried the ball. Klesmith, Blackwell and Tonje (11 shot attempts) managed to score quite a few shots. It remains to be seen how this trio fares in a high-pressure environment.
“(Taking time to find our shot is) expected,” Tonje said. “I’m perfectly fine with the result and now we have film and we can learn from the win.”
Wisconsin hints at a rotation, but doesn’t quite execute it in the exhibition
The Badgers were just trying things on Wednesday. They used 12 players in the first half. Freshman Daniel Freitag saw the first minutes of the first half along with senior forward Markus Ilver. Winter saw time at the five for a short period. The setup against the Falcons was a mix and match of different pairings for the Badgers.
“I stuck with the first group through the first media timeout,” Gard said. “And then I wanted to see different combinations together.”
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Gard admitted that he often goes into a game trying to write substitution patterns, but that’s not always where the game takes him. Gard is still getting a feel for this group, and Claysmith and Blackwell’s early game troubles made the mission a bit difficult at first.
The first change of the second half, with McGee subbing Blackwell at 18:51, was probably the closest to being accurate — McGee should probably be the first guard off the bench, but Blackwell coming off the bench after 1:09 probably won’t happen much . The first six players in the rotation appear to be set: Blackwell, Klesmith, Tonje, Winter, Crowl and McGee off the bench.
“Now it’s who’s going to be seven, who’s going to be eight, who’s going to be nine,” Gard said.
Perhaps in part for that reason, the turnovers were frequent and seemed to affect Wisconsin’s ability to get into a rhythm at several points. But that’s what experimentation looks like, and this team seems to need it right now.
“I think everybody’s doing a great job trying to build that chemistry,” Crowl said. “And I think it might take a little longer just because we have a lot of new guys. But we will get there eventually.”
Kamari McGee will be important whether he’s a starter or not
In a game where Wisconsin needed something good to happen for a long stretch of time, it didn’t look like it was in the cards as Crowl’s 3-pointer rattled off the rim at 18:06 and UW-River Falls’ Regan Merritt fouled out in transition for a seemingly wide-open look at the rim. But McGee rushed behind him, reared up and punched the backboard.
A few plays later, McGee — who had already made an impact with his layup — got a 3-point look and drained it. Gard said when he told McGee who he would start Wednesday, he made it clear, “I want to make sure you have the same energy and bounce.”
The Badgers were trying to get back what McGee provided last year as a key spark off the bench. But he looks to be in a bigger role this year, as he is the first player off Wisconsin’s bench and one of six players Gard said have separated themselves from the others.
McGee looked very averse to shooting early in the game and will rarely be someone looking for his shot all game (he had five points on 1-on-1 shooting). But with a steal, a block, four rebounds and six assists, McGee showed Wednesday why he’s been the most consistent of the point guards so far in the preseason. Maybe that doesn’t mean it will start. But he will play some big minutes for Wisconsin.
“That’s what he does,” Gard said. “… He makes the teams he’s on better.”