WKU Basketball: Talkin’ Badgers Hoops With Bucky’s 5th Quarter’s Jake Kocorowski
This evening, the Hilltoppers face their second toughest competition of the year, and their toughest road contest of t he season as they…
This evening, the Hilltoppers face their second toughest competition of the year, and their toughest road contest of t he season as they head to Madison to tip off against the Badgers.
To get an inside look at the matchup, we hit up Bucky’s 5th Quarter, the SBNation Wisconsin blog, for the 411 on the Badgers.
The Towel Rack: What were the preseason expectations for the Badgers before the year began?
Jake Kocorowski: Wisconsin lost four key seniors — Nigel Hayes, Bronson Koenig, Zak Showalter and Vitto Brown — that helped take the team to the Sweet 16 and within a last-second shot of advancing to the Elite 8 last year, so many thought it would be a hint of a rebuilding year. Since Bo Ryan took over in 2001 and Greg Gard since December 2015, Wisconsin has not finished lower than fourth in the Big Ten nor missed an NCAA tournament. With All-America candidate Ethan Happ and some young, unproven talent, there were some pieces to the puzzle but it would take a while for everything to mesh.
Needless to say, head coach Greg Gard and the team are still figuring things out heading into their 12th game with that NCAA conference streak very shaky.
TTR: Wisconsin has gotten off to a 4–7 start. To be frank, what has gone wrong?
JK: Where to start? First, outside of Happ (16.3 points, 8.6 rebounds per game) and true freshman guard Brad Davison (10.9 points per game), there are no consistent third or fourth scoring threats. Teams can double team Happ all day long, and there has not been players to step up to drain shots enough to take the pressure off of the redshirt junior.
Third-year players Khalil Iverson and Brevin Pritzl have popped up here and there, but they’ll need to become better at being that key word: consistent.
There’s also a lack of production from the third year players. Iverson and Pritzl are the ones contributing from this class of 2015, but forwards Charles Thomas, Alex Illikainen and Andy Van Vliet have not developed into contributors who can play every night and produce.
Without an identity, this team also has not had the ability to put teams away. Outside of the lopsided losses to Ohio State and Marquette on back-to-back Saturdays, they have played ranked teams like Xavier, Baylor and UCLA tough and been within striking distance of a win in each of those games. They should have put away Temple on the road last week but went cold from the field for the last 3:27 of the game. Heck, before Marquette guard Andrew Rowsey ate a star from Super Mario Bros. and scored 18 second half points, the Badgers pulled within a 46–40 game with just under 16 minutes left in the game. You see the glimpses of potential but it will be tough sledding this season
TTR: On paper, this team seems to lack production depth — is that a deceiving takeaway?
JK: Yeah, there’s not a lot of depth to this team in terms of production from last year, as those four seniors previously mentioned were the go-to players outside of Happ. That depth took an even bigger hit when guards Kobe King and D’Mitrik Trice were ruled out indefinitely by Wisconsin this past weekend. Trice, who started 10 games and was third on the team in scoring (9.4 points per game), just had foot surgery on Monday and will start the rehab process in two to three weeks. King averaged 19 minutes and 5.2 points per game as a true freshman, but his left knee injury required season-ending surgery on Monday as well. The guard position is now down to Pritzl and Davison starting, with former walk-on T.J. Schlundt and walk-on Walt McGrory potentially backing them up.
TTR: Who is a name or two WKU fans should know — maybe someone who could have a breakout game if everything goes right?
I think Davison is the big name to watch out for. He’s the Energizer bunny of the team in terms of sparking a run with a steal (leads the team with 20), a charge, or making some key baskets. Against Marquette alone, he got to the free throw line 16 times. He’s also nursing a left shoulder injury that will bear watching for the rest of the season, but he’s a player you love to have on your squad.
I’ll also look at another true freshman in forward Nate Reuvers, whose redshirt was burned because they needed someone to spell Happ consistently. He needs to add weight and strength to be more consistent down the road, but he has shown potential of what he could be in years to come.
TTR: When looking at the Tops, what do you like and dislike about the matchup?
To be fair, I have not had a lot of time to look at Western Kentucky, but I know the program beat Purdue, and Wisconsin’s reeling from injuries and poor play. This will not be an easy match-up for the Badgers, especially with six Western Kentucky players boasting over 10 points per game (and it looks like eight have played this year), though the Tops did lose to Ohio recently.
I think Justin Johnson could be a problem with his ability to put up double double type numbers, but I really feel if Western Kentucky can answer Happ’s inside game, it will again be a long night for Wisconsin. Happ can only do so much, and until there is a proven set of shooters to turn off the heat on the team’s best player, UW will have to probably scrap for a victory.
TTR: Finally, lay a prediction on me
Despite Wisconsin reeling from the loss of two productive, young guards and an unproven squad, I think they pull out the win on Wednesday. The team finally had a chance to catch its breath after a crazy schedule the past few weeks. The team under Greg Gard won’t quit and will continue to learn, and I think they’ll rebound with Happ continuing to put up near double double numbers, Davison being his normal self, and someone along the lines of Iverson, Prtizl and Reuvers asserting themselves.
Then again, it could all go wrong yet again and the Badgers’ slump continues.
I’ll say Wisconsin 73, Western Kentucky 68 because of the home court advantage and the extra days of rest.
I’d like to thank Jake for taking the time to answer our questions. Be sure to check out the B5Q guys all day for ‘Consin coverage as the Tops and Badgers do battle.