Wisconsin Badgers Men’s Basketball: Minnesota Recap

After a tough home loss to Maryland, the No.6-ranked Wisconsin Badgers men’s basketball team (9-2 overall, 3-1 B1G) were back in action on New Years Eve for a game. rivalry with No. 21 Minnesota (9-2 overall, 2-2 B1G).

While the Badgers recently stumbled, Minnesota had back-to-back wins over ranked opponents thanks to stellar play from point guard Marcus Carr. Wednesday afternoon at the Kohl Center, it was the Badgers who emerged victorious, winning the Gophers by 12 as they led the entire game.

In the opening moments of the game, the Badgers made a concerted effort to enter against Minnesota center Liam Robbins. Micah Potter scored the first five points of the game, as Wisconsin gave him the ball in the paint against Robbins on several occasions.

After Minnesota started to find their rhythm on offense, Wisconsin managed to force four straight turnovers, including a nice pick-pocket from Jonathan Davis that led to a breakaway dunk. As a result, Wisconsin held a 14-7 lead after the first eight minutes of action.

In the next few minutes, neither team was able to do much on the attacking side. Prolonged droughts hurt both teams, but it was Wisconsin that would keep the Gophers safe to five with 3:48 left in the first half.

In the final few minutes, Wisconsin was able to increase their lead slightly to take a seven-point lead in the break.

Coming out of the break, Aleem Ford would score five quick points to help propel the Badgers to a 14-point lead over the Gophers after the opening three minutes.

Wisconsin would continue to stack it over the next five minutes as Minnesota couldn’t find an answer to everything the Badgers had done. Wisconsin managed to push their lead to 26 at one point, but the Gophers would run a short run to close the scoring to 17 with four minutes left in the half.

In the final few minutes, the Badgers managed to run and eventually took a 12-point victory.

• Micah Potter -> 18 points (8 of 15 shots), 11 rebounds, two assists
• Aleem Ford -> 14 points (6 out of 10 shots), three rebounds, two blocks
• D’Mitrik Trice -> 14 points (6 of 11 shots), five rebounds, five assists

N ° 1: Painting problems -> no problem

Wisconsin made it an early priority to go inside Minnesota and attack big man Liam Robbins. While this strategy saw the Badgers take the lead in the half, the team were far from effective in painting.

In the first half, Wisconsin managed to muster 18 points in the paint, but were only 6 of 10 on layups and missed quite a few close-ups that looked like gimmicks. Those first-half struggles quickly faded away for the Badgers in the second stanza, as everything was going Wisconsin’s direction for the final 20 minutes.

In the second half, the Badgers shot over 65% from the field, including 66% from depth, as everything fell under their spell.

No. 2: rebound

In the first period, Minnesota was very active on the offensive glass. The Gophers took advantage of some poor rebounds from Wisconsin to secure nine offensive boards and scored eight of their 22 points on second chance opportunities.

Micah Potter was a bright spot in the rebounding department for the Badgers, scoring nine in the first half, including three offensive boards, but the first half wasn’t great as Minnesota passed Wisconsin by five despite the lack of seven more shots.

In the second half, Wisconsin did a much better job boxing and did enough to win over the Gophers. The rebound will always be something to watch out for as Big Ten play continues, as allowing 16 offensive boards can tip a game if the other team is able to take advantage.

N ° 3: D-shaped fence

Wisconsin did a great job of covering the ball screens and relying on assisting the defense as they recovered while trying to stop Marcus Carr. Carr is one of the best goalies in the Big Ten and entered the Kohl Center averaging 24 points per game.

D’Mitrik Trice did a great job as Carr’s main defender, but his teammates helped him throughout the game. For the game, Carr finished with 10 points, 14 below his season average.

Wisconsin struggled offensively in this game for long stretches, but their defense was consistent. The Badgers managed to turn their defensive saves into easy buckets and kept Minnesota at a season low of 59 points.

After the Badgers fought in the second half against Maryland on the defensive end of the court, it was a positive development to see how well they rebounded against the Gophers.

Next: Wisconsin is expected to be back on the hardwoods on Sunday, Jan. 3 against the Penn State Nittany Lions. Tip time is 11 a.m. and the game can be viewed on the Big Ten Network.