The Badgers enjoyed a second straight victory at home on Thursday.
The Wisconsin Badgers won their second game of the season last night, beating the Montana State Bobcats 79-67. The Badgers beat a solid Montana State squad that has made the NCAA tournament in three straight seasons.
Here’s what went right for Wisconsin last night.
Max Klesmit returning to form
Max Klesmit didn’t look all that good in his season opener and in both the Red-White scrimmage and their exhibition against UW-River Falls. Klesmit put all of that negativity to rest yesterday night as he matched his career-high of 26 points, while hitting a career-high six three-pointers.
Klesmit had multiple games last year where he caught fire, specifically against Marquette and Indiana. If he can continue his hot streak into their upcoming game against Arizona next Friday, that would be a major help for a Badgers team navigating their new-look rotation.
Kamari McGee
During the off-season, Coach Gard made it clear that Kamari McGee would have a significant role for the Badgers. That was made clear yesterday. McGee scored 11 points and notched three assists and rebounds to go along with it.
He effectively was the “spark plug” that the Badgers needed off the bench and was something the Badgers definitely lacked last season as well.
Even on the bench, it is clear that McGee’s ability to facilitate and play scrappy defense will be huge down the stretch for the Badgers as they take on very deep rosters in the Big Ten.
Three point excellence
Greg Gard has made it clear that three-point shooting is a clear focus for this squad. He believes that they are talented from beyond the arc and won’t pass up any opportunity to take a three.
In their first game against Holy Cross, their three-point shooting started off very slow but ended up stabilizing. In this game, they started out hot which helped them get off to an early lead against this tough Montana State team.
Wisconsin takes on Appalachian State this Sunday and is looking to start 3-0 before their massive home matchup against the Arizona Wildcats. The Badgers have looked solid in their first two contests, so let’s hope they can continue this momentum for the rest of the non-conference slate.