The Badgers had a tough challenge, but found a way to hold on against a feisty opponent.
The Wisconsin Badgers avoided a major upset on Monday, as they narrowly defeated the UT Rio Grande Valley Vaqueros 87-84 at the Kohl Center in a battle that was back-and-forth from the beginning.
It was a high-scoring affair in the first half, as Wisconsin allowed their opponents to score 52 points, but things evened out more in the final period, with the Badgers finding a way to pull off the victory against a feisty opponent.
Here are three quick takeaways from Wisconsin’s 87-84 win over UT Rio Grande Valley.
John Blackwell career-high
Heading into Monday’s game, each of Wisconsin’s starters seemed to have their breakout game with a strong offensive performance.
John Tonje had been great in every game, but really shined in a 41-point performance against Arizona. Max Klesmit had 26 points against Montana State in a major game. Steven Crowl had 17, working well against 1-on-1s versus Appalachian State. And even Nolan Winter had a 15-point game in the season opener, while shooting a perfect 6/6 from the field.
John Blackwell had three double-digit performances entering Monday’s game, but it felt that a “breakout” performance was coming, as there were little things to clean up, such as better finishing at the rim.
Well, that all came to fruition on Monday, as Blackwell had a career-high 30 points on 11/18 from the field and 2/5 from deep. After a strong first half that included a team-high 10 points, the sophomore exploded in the second half, putting up 20 points on 7/11 from the field, taking over as the team’s go-to guy.
Blackwell’s scoring mainly came as Wisconsin looked to claw their way back into the game, getting nine of the Badgers’ first 11 second-half points. That wasn’t it, though, as the guard had two separate stretches with back-to-back buckets, getting the Badgers the lead after they trailed for the first eight minutes of the second half.
Blackwell didn’t get many chances to score over the final 10 minutes of the second half, but got the job done, getting to the line for a pair of free throws at the two-minute mark before sealing the game with two go-ahead free throws.
Ultimately, it was his best performance as a Badger, as the sophomore found ways to constantly attack the rim, getting to the basket or the free throw line for a 30-point performance.
Defensive woes
Wisconsin had a strong victory over the Arizona Wildcats last Friday, but it was primarily because of an excellent offense that produced 103 points. They still allowed 88 points in the win, with the Wildcats going to the free throw line 40 times in the game.
On Monday, Wisconsin had their worst defensive performance of the season, as they were beaten in a number of ways that allowed UT Rio Grande Valley to thrive on the night.
In the first half, the Badgers allowed a season-high 52 points, as the Vaqueros shot 62.5 percent from the field and 47.1 percent from deep. It was ugly.
Wisconsin was getting beaten off ball screens, with too much separation allowing for shooters to fire off open shots and get points on catch-and-shoot opportunities. But, they also consistently struggled to rotate, leading to a variety of open threes, including a few from the corner.
On the ball, Wisconsin’s defense was porous, as UTRVG’s guards consistently found ways to attack and pressure the Badgers in the paint, setting up other shots. The Vaqueros didn’t really hunt layups at the rim against the two seven-footers for Wisconsin, but they did create quality jump shots in the paint, as well as good looks from the outside.
It was clear that UTRVG was going to come in playing with pace, as they had the 36th-best in the country heading into Monday. And they did, excelling on that front while being efficient with 1.44 points per shot in the first half.
In the second half, a number of Wisconsin’s problems actually persisted. However, the Vaqueros weren’t able to capitalize on the Badgers’ defensive mistakes nearly as much, just missing open shots, especially from deep. UTRVG became too triple-happy in the second half and didn’t see nearly as much offensive success as a result, shooting just 5/16 from deep in the final period.
Then, as the game continued into the final 10 minutes, it seemed like the Vaqueros got too iso-ball dominant, which the Badgers were able to combat with solid on-ball defense. That led to a couple of cold stretches and UTRVG shooting just 34.4 from the field and 29.4 from deep in the final period.
Overall, Wisconsin’s defense needs to be much better, not only to start games, but throughout 40 minutes if they’re going to want to have sustained success.
Smaller Rotations
When it comes to the Badgers’ rotations this season, Wisconsin has looked to deploy a nine-man rotation with Kamari McGee, Carter Gilmore, Xavier Amos, and Jack Janicki coming off the bench after the five starters.
However, the way they’ve allocated minutes for the group has changed depending on the team’s matchups, and that was absolutely the case on Monday.
Facing a smaller team, Wisconsin relied more on its wings and bench depth, as center Steven Crowl and power forward Nolan Winter played just 21 and 12 minutes, respectively.
Instead, McGee and Gilmore each saw 20+ minutes, while Amos saw 13 and Janicki got 10 in the win.
The Badgers rode a certain group hard in the second half, as John Blackwell played all 20 minutes, while John Tonje saw 18 minutes and Max Klesmit got 16 minutes of action in the second half. To complement them, McGee got 15 minutes in the period alone, while Gilmore saw 14 minutes as the Badgers went with a lot of small ball to have better options for switching to combat the ball penetration.
Crowl saw just six minutes in the second half, while Winter played only three, while Janicki got six minutes as well off the bench.
Now, Wisconsin will start facing bigger teams as they get into the breadth of their non-conference schedule, but it was intriguing to see them deploy different lineups to try and combat a feisty opponent on Monday.