The Wisconsin Badgers got a comfortable 80-60 win over the Milwaukee Panthers on Tuesday, getting out to a fast start and never looking back in their final non-conference game of the season.
Wisconsin struggled
from three, but held Milwaukee to just 33.6 percent from the field and 3 of 22 from deep in the win. It was another quality effort from the bench, as the Badgers didn’t play their starters heavy minutes, resting up ahead of their Big Ten schedule.
With the win, Wisconsin improved to 9-4 on the season, including a stellar 8-0 at home. Here are three quick takeaways from the Badgers win over Milwaukee on Tuesday.
Fast start
It felt like this one was over from the start, as Wisconsin jumped out to a 15-2 lead over the first 6:31 of the game. They ultimately held Milwaukee to one field goal in the first nine minutes of the game, and the Panthers never really had a chance to claw back.
Milwaukee cut the lead to single digits just once more in the game, as Wisconsin carried its way to a big blowout victory.
Five different players accounted for Wisconsin’s first nine points, as Wisconsin mainly settled for twos, looking to get in the paint.
After jumping out to the early start, they maintained a nice lead at halftime, heading into the break up 37-21.
Shooting adjustments
When Wisconsin doesn’t have as efficient a half as it should, it’s usually because of its three-point shooting.
The Badgers were abysmal from beyond the arc on Tuesday. In the first half, 14 of their 30 shots were three-pointers, and they connected on just two of them. They were still able to get to 39 points because of great efficiency inside the arc and a ton of free throws.
But, in the second half, that shot selection changed. Only eight of Wisconsin’s 27 field goal attempts were threes. The Badgers didn’t hit any more (2/8 from deep), but they were more efficient inside the arc (14/19), leading to a better half.
Nick Boyd had an efficient 16 points, needing just seven shots to get there, with everything coming inside the arc or at the free-throw line. Nolan Winter had an efficient 14 points. And it was a collective effort everywhere else.
Lack of a clean win
In these non-conference games, I wanted to see the younger players develop, but also for the Badgers to have a clean and dominant win. Yes, you’ll take a 20-point victory anyday, but Wisconsin still showed its struggles on Tuesday.
They were porous from deep, which will be a serious problem if the consistency remains the same in conference play. And, while they shot well inside the arc with an advantageous matchup, they were bad at the free-throw line (20/32, 62.5 percent).
Defensively, they allowed 13 offensive rebounds, despite being the bigger team. And they fouled 22 times.
Of course, not everything is going to go right in every game. But, having that all come together is when we can see the Badgers true potential, and they just haven’t shown that yet. Now, things only get tougher, where shortcomings will become more amplified.
That was the lone miss from Tuesday’s game.
